Exploring social workers' views on assessing child neglect in England and Wales

Simon Haworth*, Jason Schaub, Paul Montgomery

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (Academic Journal)peer-review

Abstract

Child neglect poses many issues for social work, notably in terms of effective assessment leading to informed intervention targeting the needs of children and families. In response to this challenge, our multiphase research project is developing a new multiagency child neglect measurement tool. The phase of the project reported in this article administered an online survey via Qualtrics to explore the views of children and families social workers on assessing child neglect. One hundred and twenty-nine completed responses were received from registered children and families social workers in England and Wales. The main findings are that social workers are regularly undertaking child neglect assessments and feel relatively confident in completing them. They also feel relatively confident that their assessments are inclusive of social harms such as poverty and social isolation, but less confident they are accurate and informed by research evidence. Almost two-thirds are using a child neglect assessment tool, but they lack confidence in these accurately assessing neglect or being quick and simple to use. The findings illustrate that social workers require both the work conditions and tools to use in which they feel confident to undertake balanced and accurate assessments of child neglect.
Original languageEnglish
Article numbere2857
Number of pages12
JournalChild Abuse Review
Volume33
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 24 Jan 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Authors. Child Abuse Review published by Association of Child Protection Professionals and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Research Groups and Themes

  • SPS Centre for Research in Health and Social Care

Keywords

  • assessment
  • child maltreatment
  • child neglect
  • child protection
  • children and families social work
  • survey

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