Working Effectively with Children in Situations of Neglect

Thurrock LSCP are pleased to offer practitioners the opportunity to attend this FREE two day neglect course.  This training will take place across non consecutive days and you must attend both sessions in full

Tuesday 21st January and Tuesday 11th February 2025 

All sessions will be from 09.00 till 16.30 and will be held via MS Teams.

Course Outline:

The impact of neglect can be far reaching for the child or young person, from developmental delay to child sexual exploitation, serious medical issues or mental health concerns.  With an estimated 1 in 10 children experiencing neglect, 29,000 children in 2019/2020 being registered on a Child Protection Plan with Neglect as the primary reason and 23,000 cases of child cruelty being recorded by the Police, the NSPCC highlights neglect as a significant risk to the wellbeing and safety of Children in the UK.  Neglect was also a feature in 35% of fatal Serious Case Reviews (NSPCC 2021).  It is therefore vital that staff are able to identify, intervene and safeguard children and young people where neglect may be an issue.

Utilising DfE (2014), NSPCC (2015), Children's Society (2016) and Nice Guidance (2017), this two day-Programme aims to support staff to develop the knowledge and skills needed to not only recognise neglect but to effectively assess and support children who may be living in situations of neglect, as well as to know when and how to escalate concerns.  This will briefly include an explanation of the Graded Care Profile 2 Tool; however, this training does not duplicate the GCP2 training or equip participants to use the tool.  This course covers how to evidence cumulative harm where it is necessary to demonstrate the impact neglect is having on a child over time.

Learning Outcomes

Participants completing this course will be able to:

• Give and understand a comprehensive definition of what constitutes neglect
• Understand types of neglect and the implications for child development
• Recognise signs of neglect using child development/attachment theories
• Understand the impact on children living in low-warmth, high criticism families
• Understanding cumulative neglect and the impact on development/attachment
• Identify strategies for intervening in neglect cases
• Be able to understand an accurate assessment of good enough parenting
• Understand the legal context for intervening in neglect cases

To book onto this training, please click here.  Please note that you will need to be available to attend both sessions of the training.  Failure to attend both days will result in a £50 non-attendance charge.

Learning Methods

 This training is delivered using an online interactive classroom approach and all delegates will be expected to take part to ensure an effective adult learning experience. Using whiteboards and breakout rooms, a combination of learning methods will be used throughout the day, including trainer presentation and group work in the form of case studies and reflection dilemmas to support application to practice. Local templates and expectations will be embedded in the programme where required and appropriate.

Delegate Requirements

All delegates will need access to a laptop/desktop for the whole session, a functioning microphone and camera, and a strong stable internet connection to allow effective participation. Delegates will need a quiet place to work, largely free of interruptions so they can unmute to contribute. Delegates will need to be present for the entire session unless by arrangement, this is to maximise their own learning and not detract from the experience of others. Where courses include a request for skills practice (i.e., Court Skills or Motivational Interviewing) taking part in the practice element of the course mandatory. 

Where possible delegates should be using the Microsoft Teams Desktop App and have ensured it is fully updated. Laptops/Desktops should have an up-to-date browser such as Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge other browsers are not fully supported. We require the work/teams email addresses of the delegates 7 days prior to the training to allow us to send calendar invites, joining instructions and course materials. Delegates are advised to download the resources prior to the course and will need them accessible on the day. 

For customers who have a large or specialist contracts with us, we are also able to create a resource library for your organisation within out MS Teams Platform, delegates can 'opt in' to this added value service and they will be given a 'DCC-I Guest Account' and details on how to join it. 

Please note - for health and safety reasons it is not appropriate to access these courses from a mobile phone. Whilst tablets can be used; delegates will find a laptop/desktop is easier as functionality on tablets are still limited. 

Diverse Needs:

At DCC-I we are happy to support delegates with any additional learning needs. Any learning or other needs should be notified to crew@dcc-i.co.uk at least 48 hours prior to the course commencing to allow time for for the preparation of any specific materials. 

Programme overview: 

Day 1

9:30 - Welcome and Introductions.

9:45 - Why look at this Topic? 

                        Learning from Serious Case Reviews 

                        Prevalence

                        Risks to the well-being of Neglected Children. 

10:30 - What is Neglect?

                        Working Together 2018 

                        Medical Neglect 

                        Nutritional Neglect 

                        Emotional Neglect 

11:30 - BREAK

11:45 - What is Neglect?

                         Educational Neglect 

                         Physical Neglect 

                         Lack of supervision and guidance

12:30 - LUNCH

13:30 - Why Does Neglect Matter?

                         Impact on the Brain

                         Impact on the Body 

                         Impact on Learning 

14:30 - BREAK  

14:45 - Why Does Neglect Matter? 

                         Impact on Emotional Development 

                         Cumulative Harm 

15:30 - What is Good Enough Parenting? 

                          Dimensions of Parenting Capacity

                          Child Development - Ages and Stages 

                          Teenage Neglect 

16:30 - CLOSE 

DAY 2 

9:30 - Welcome and Introductions 

9:45 - Recap of Learning from Day 1 

10:15 - How do we Assess Neglect? 

                            Models of Assessment 

                            Tools for Assessing (Including GP2 and Signs of Safety) 

                            Nice Recommendations 

11:15 - BREAK 

11:30 - What areas do we need to assess/consider? 

                            Parenting Capacity  

                            Parental Mental Health 

                            Parental Substance Use 

                            Domestic Abuse 

12:30 - LUNCH 

13:30 - What areas do we need to assess/consider? 

                            Parental Learning Disability 

                            Disability and Neglect 

                            Family and Environment

                            Culture and Safeguarding 

14:30 - BREAK 

14:45 - How do we intervene? 

                            Why interventions fail 

                            Assessing Parenting Capacity 

                            Resistance and Motivation 

15:30 - How do we intervene?

                             Using Chronologies 

                             Working with the wider family network 

                             Intervening with fathers and males in the family 

                             Escalating Cases if strategies are unsuccessful 

16:30 - CLOSE