What is neglect?

Neglect is the persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical and/or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the child’s health or development. Neglect may occur during pregnancy as a result of maternal substance abuse or failure to participate in ante-natal care. Once a child is born, neglect may involve a parent or carer failing to:

• Provide adequate food, shelter and clothing (including exclusion from home or abandonment);
• Protect a child from physical harm or danger;
• Respond to a child’s basic emotional needs;
• Ensure adequate supervision (including inadequate substitute care-givers);
• Ensure access to appropriate medical care or treatment.

Signs which may suggest neglect:

• Squalid, unhygienic or dangerous home conditions;
• Parents fail to attend to their children's health or development needs;
• Children appear persistently undersized or underweight;
• Children continually appear tired or lacking in energy;
• Children suffer frequent injuries due to lack of supervision;
• The child is not attached or is anxiously attached to the parent;
• The child is not regularly sent to school including preschool;
• Developmental delay due to lack of stimulation;
• The child has cold skin mottled with pink or purple;
• The child has swollen limbs with pitted sores which are slow to heal;
• The child’s skin condition is poor, especially in the nappy area;
• The child has dry sparse hair;
• The child stays frozen in one position for an unnaturally long time.

Cheshire West and Chester LSCB has developed a neglect matrix tool (PDF, 160KB)as an aid for professionals in identifying neglect 

Please report any concerns you have that a child may be being neglected