Abstract
Child neglect is the most common reason for a child to be placed on the child protection register in Wales. Due to their central position within the community, schools provide opportunities for staff to observe children’s interactions with peers and family members, five days a week, over an extended period of time and development. Although literature acknowledges schools as pivotal sites for the identification of child maltreatment, little is known about the manner in which school staff recognise and respond to child neglect in their roles. This paper brings new understanding about the way in which child neglect is identified by school staff in Wales. The mixed method research design comprises two phases: quantitative social work case file analysis, qualitative semi-structured interviews and non-participant observation. This paper presents two key findings from the thirty interviews with staff in mainstream schools undertaken within the second phase of the study. Findings emphasise the presence of differing professional perspectives between school staff and social services: firstly the identification of child neglect within the boundaries of the school, and secondly the interprofessional challenges which exist for school staff when responding to child neglect. Findings have important implications for future policy and practice in the delivery of school-based service provision, and broader messages for the development of effective inter-professional relationships between staff in all universal services and statutory services when supporting and protecting children who are suspected of living with neglect.
Highlights
In Wales, child neglect is the most common reason for taking child protection action
The quantitative sample included the fifty most recent case files in each local authority, where the child was of school age, the school was the referring agency to social services, and the child had been registered on the child protection register under the category of neglect
Such legal powers are not shared by staff in schools (Brown 2011), a point which is exemplified by a Special Needs Manager, ‘I’m not in the home, I don’t know; but I suppose I sit in meetings with the social worker who does go into the home...but as a classroom teacher, when the only contact you have is maybe a phone call or a parents evening- I wouldn’t have a clue’
Summary
In Wales, child neglect is the most common reason for taking child protection action. Child neglect is widely recognised as a chronic and pervasive public health issue, often considered to be the most complex form of child maltreatment rarely based upon a specific incident (Action for Children 2010; Daniel et al 2009). Neglect is usually broad-based with a myriad of causes and indicators (Daniel et al 2011; Horwath 2007) This makes providing the appropriate type and level of support to a child a substantial challenge for practice. Communication and inter-agency practice between social services and schools was recognised as a particular difficulty (Baginsky 2008), with staff in schools acknowledged as being vital for the early identification and intervention in cases of suspected neglect (Stevens and Laing 2015).
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