DSCP Neglect Toolkit Review

04. Assessment tools and resources

The following tools are described in this section. They are also set out here for ease of access:

i) Introduction

Neglect can be hard to spot because it’s often made up of lots of small actions or inactions, which on their own might not seem serious enough to report. In the previous section, we explained that being professionally curious is essential for noticing signs of neglect. In this section, we describe some tools that can help with this way of thinking and outline a clear process for assessing neglect.

Important background information on approaching assessments is given in our tri.x procedure on Assessment, though this is not specifically about neglect. This guidance includes the Assessment Framework Triangle, which provides a template for good practice in assessment.

ii) Neglect Assessment Tool

For assessing neglect, we have a couple of tools based on the work of Kirklees Safeguarding Children Partnership:

These are tools that the practitioner should complete with a young person and their family wherever possible. First, there is an Initial Neglect Screening Tool that can be used to indicate whether a full assessment is needed and as a prompt for action in its own right. Then there is the Full Neglect Assessment Tool that explores different aspects of the child’s life and, crucially, the child’s own views. This tool has opportunities for action planning throughout.

The tools do not use numerical scores. Instead, practitioners should professional judgment and cross-reference key findings of the Neglect Assessment Tool with the Dorset Continuum of Need; this will indicate the type of help the child and family need.

These tools can be used not just to assess the help needed, but as an intervention in their own right that supports the practitioner’s discussions with the family. It helps all involved to identify specific changes needed to benefit the child/children and the support the family will need to implement these changes. These conversations will then help the practitioner completing the tools to decide whether they can provide this support themselves or whether, when considered alongside the continuum of need, the involvement of other professionals (or escalation) may be required.

iii) Hearing the voice of the child or young person

Mind of My Own

The voice of the child or young person should be at heart of any assessment relating to neglect. Dorset Children’s Services now offers the Mind of My Own app to capture the thoughts, feelings and wishes of children and young people who are receiving support from a family worker or social worker:

Mind of my Own is an app that enables children and young people to voice their views, thoughts and feelings. They can create statements either on their own, or as part of a session with their practitioner. The process is easy and uses simple images to help capture feelings, emotions and tangible events. The statement is shared with their practitioner automatically through an integration with Mosaic. Mind of my own also enables automatic alerts in the event the child or young person expresses they are feeling unsafe or scared.

Mind of My Own may be particularly well-suited to children who experience neglect. As we have noted, neglect is usually cumulative; it only becomes apparent over a period of time. Having the child’s views recorded over time can give a rich view of their experience and help practitioners to determine if neglect is taking place.

For more on Mind of My Own see, Mind Of My Own.

Other tools for hearing children’s voices

Hampshire Safeguarding Children Partnership has a series of tools to capture the day-to-day experiences of the young person at different stages of their life:

Day in my life tools – Hampshire SCP

These are tools that can be used with children and/or families to explore and understand the child’s experiences more fully. There is a tool for five different age groups, and one for children who are disabled. The tools can help the practitioner to understand how far the child’s physical, medical and emotional needs are being met. The middle column in each tool should be used to capture the child and/or family’s responses, whilst the right-hand column should be used for the practitioner’s reflection and professional judgment.

Also helpful are the All About Me tools, which capture the voice of both children and young people:

All About Me (Children)

All About Me (Young people)

All these tools can help to ensure that the voice of the child is heard in assessments and planning meetings even if they are not able to participate directly by attending the meetings.

It is important to remember that using these tools does not guarantee that children or young people will be able to tell practitioners how they feel about their lives. The tools can be used creatively and adapted to individual needs.

Some children will have had painful experiences that they cannot easily share with others. These experiences may affect their development and the way that they relate to others. Practitioners should adopt a trauma-informed approach in all their work with children and young people, so that they can understand the messages that may lie behind ‘difficult’ behaviours and avoid re-traumatising the child. The trauma-informed approach sees all behaviour as a form of communication; practitioners should try to understand what the child is saying through their behaviours, as well as through other forms of communication.

Working definition of trauma-informed practice – GOV.UK

iv) Hoarding

Hoarding may be a sign that parents are neglecting their accommodation and therefore neglecting the children who share that accommodation with them. We have developed and collected a number of tools that will help to assess the risks posed by hoarding and clutter in a home. The first is a simple screening tool:

Hoarding Assessment Tool – Screening

Then there is a full assessment tool:

Hoarding Assessment Tool – Assessment

To evaluate the risks presented by differing levels of clutter, and to agree actions for change, the following documents should be used together:

As the last of these documents makes clear, by assessing clutter in a way that involves the parent, the practitioner is also starting restorative work. Additional support for the parent may be necessary to carry this work forward; in this case the practitioner may wish to seek their consent for a referral to the local Adult Services or Mental Health team. For more on restorative work with children and families who experience neglect, please see section 5 of this toolkit.

v) Tools for supervision and reflective practice

Good reflective supervision is a key tool to support identification of, and effective responses to, neglect. The following tools can help to develop supervision conversations and reflective practice:

Guide to Recognising Neglect in Children

This document is aligned to the Dorset Continuum of Need and provides neglect indicators for each level of need. It will enable the practitioner and their supervisor to identify the type of support required by the child and their family.

For reflection on the condition of a family home, the practitioner may use the Hoarding Assessment Tool mentioned above, or may prefer to use the following as the basis for their reflection:

Framework for recording the condition of a home

The types of need set out in this document are in similar format to the Continuum of Need but are not directly aligned to this. The purpose of the tool is to support an overall professional judgment of the condition of a home, so that the impact of this on the child may be evaluated.

Finally, the following may be helpful in prompting reflection on both the risks to the child, and the protective factors in their home situation:

Adversity and resilience reflection tool

To use the tool, create a list of factors for each of the four points of the cross. Using these factors, consider where the parents are on the scales from Protective Factors to Adversity and Resilience to Vulnerability. What do the factors you have identified tell you about wellbeing or neglect within the family? How can your practice help the child and family to develop their Protective Factors and Resilience? What steps need to be taken to help them respond to adversity and to reduce their vulnerability?

3.Identifying neglect

5. Restorative practice with children and families