Who can I talk to about child neglect?

In the first instance you might want to talk to your health visitor, a teacher at your child's school, your GP or nurse at your local practice. They should be able to offer advice and tell you of any support groups in your area.

If you can, talk to other family members, they may want to help. Don't be afraid to ask for their advice and support.

If your concerns are more immediate, you could call your local authority and speak to someone in the Social Care department who can assess your problems and the needs arising from them. You can find your local authority online or by looking in the local phone book (your local library should have one if you don't).

They might decide that you can be better helped elsewhere and give you further information. If we work with your local authority, they will be able to refer you to a local children's centre, including one of our Action for Children centres (see below).

If your concern is urgent, please call the police in your area or 999.

How can Action for Children help me?

We recognise that there are critical moments in every family when they need support the most. We also know that child neglect is often unintentional. While we target the essential needs of children we also work with parents to develop their skills and confidence to better support their children.

We provide community-based support through children's centres and family centres throughout the UK and are currently piloting a new approach to working with children who are neglected. We work in partnership with local authorities, other agencies and our service users to extend our services to those in need, including housing related support, mediation services, community development and support for young carers.

How do I access Action for Children services?

Please look at our list of children's centres to see if there is an Action for Children centre that helps families near you. Often these are known as children's centres. If not, there may be children's centres run by other organisations within your local area; contact your local authority.

What will happen if I call Social Care?

You can ask for your conversation to be anonymous which means you don't have to give your details. If you do give your details you can still ask to remain anonymous which means your request for anonymity will be recorded and your details will not be shared.

However, depending on what you tell them, children's services will have to act if they believe the child/children concerned need help and anonymity cannot be guaranteed. This is known as a Child Protection Enquiry and is a legal requirement under the Children Act 1989. This is in England only.

For more advice from other organisations, see useful organisations.