Informing policy and practice to prevent care entry through a better understanding of ‘neglect’ and its impacts

NIHR Three Schools Prevention Programme > Research > Research projects > Informing policy and practice to prevent care entry through a better understanding of ‘neglect’ and its impacts

Research Team: Michelle Black, David Taylor-Robinson, Nathan Hughes, Permala Sehmar, Ben Barr, Eduard Shantsila, Davara Bennett, Lateef Akanni, Roberta Piroddi, Nina Zhang, Rachel Anderson De Cuevas, Paul Walmsley, Melisa Campbell, Helen Lea

Who's involved: SPHR (LiLaC, University of Liverpool); SSCR (University of Sheffield); Liverpool City Council

April 2025 – March 2027

What does this mean for health and social care professionals?

Understanding the pathways, mechanisms and phenomena that lead to care entry because of ‘neglect’ will inform prevention, that is, where and when is best for social care professionals and other services to intervene. By understanding the health and educational impacts of neglect for children who experience a care intervention, we could better inform services and support the most vulnerable children so we mitigate against their early adversity. Furthermore, this better understanding of ‘neglect’ will allow us to develop policy and practice recommendations locally and nationally, including elucidating ‘determinants of neglect’ to improve the limitations of everyday data collection systems and practices. Additionally, we will create free-to-access online resources to support social workers and other professionals to reflect on their practice.’

What does this mean for the public?

Better understanding how to prevent or mitigate against the effects of care intervention or care entry caused by ‘neglect’ will benefit individuals, families and society as a whole, by reducing pressure on care systems and improving health and wellbeing of children.

Background

The number of children in care in England has doubled in the last twenty years. This places pressures on care systems and can lead to poor health and wellbeing throughout the child’s life. Reducing care entry is a government priority. Delivering it requires an understanding of one of the main reasons for care entry, ‘neglect’. Neglect is defined as ‘not meeting a child’s basic physical and psychological needs’. This may be because of experiences of poverty, domestic violence or mental ill health, which can hinder parents’ assumed ability to meet children’s needs.

Aim

We aim to better understand how ‘neglect’ is interpreted in practice, what causes it, and its implications to:

Identify the approaches and policies needed to safely prevent care entry
Identify services needed to improve the experiences of children in care

To do this we will answer these questions:

What factors do professionals think explain the rise in children deemed at risk of significant harm due to ‘neglect’ over recent years?
Does their understanding of ‘neglect’ explain outcomes for children in terms of care entry?
How do health and education outcomes for children in care because of ‘neglect’ compare to outcomes for children who experienced similar circumstances but who never experienced a care intervention?
What are the policy and practice implications at local and national level?

Design and methods

First, we will interview social workers and other professionals to identify how ‘neglect’ is understood and applied in practice, why it appears to be increasing and how it might be prevented. Second, we will use datasets in Wales, England and Liverpool to identify whether children in care because of ‘neglect’ have different health and school results than children exposed to adversity (such as poverty) but not in care. Third, we will use what professionals tell us to analyse the data, and check whether their understanding of neglect explains outcomes for children in terms of care entry. Fourth, we will work with care experienced young people and parents to develop policy recommendations from the research.

Public involvement

We will establish groups of care-experienced young people and parents and listen to their experiences. We will ask for feedback on our research questions, plans and findings. Our plans to date have been shaped by listening and talking to young people who have experienced care. They are part of our wider network of health and care providers, local authorities, professionals and researchers.

Dissemination

We will establish a platform to share the stories of young people and parents. We will share our findings via our established network, at conferences, in academic papers, in guidance and advice to professionals, and in reports to policymakers. We will use the young people and parents’ stories whenever we present our findings.