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Safeguarding: steps to identify if a child is in a high-risk environment

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September 21, 2018

Healthcare professionals will be well aware that identifying when a child is in a high-risk environment is a crucial step in taking action to safeguarding against both abuse and neglect.

There are over 600,000 children in the UK who are living in what is described as a “high-risk” environment. This is a crisis within our child welfare services; therefore, the government is providing £17m of additional funding to inspire organisations like yours to modernise child services by improving information sharing across safeguarding organisations.

If you are involved in child safeguarding, you will be aware that time is an essential factor in preventing both emotional and physical damage from ruining the lives of young people. Representatives in this area need to be up to date with the best methods for identification, prevention and taking action against child cruelty.

Signs that a child is at risk of abuse or neglect

Being able to identify signs that indicate a child is at risk of abuse should be a priority for anyone who works with young people. To give you a little insight, we have put together this list of the top signs to look out for – We hope this helps!

• Malnutrition

• Poor hygiene

• Untreated physical or medical problems

• Comments from a child that no one is home to provide care

• Tiredness

• Frequent lateness or absence from school

• Inappropriate clothing

• Frequent illness, infections or sores

• Being left unsupervised for long periods

Legislation changes and funding are not enough to protect children. What is needed is the full support and innovative minds of the organisations involved in the process. This means keeping up to date with the latest child safeguarding practices and taking action to implement them.

You can prepare your organisation by learning the best practices for identifying, preventing and taking action against child abuse here.

How to report a child safeguarding issue

If you discover that a child is likely to be suffering from abuse or neglect, you need to act fast to prevent a potentially disastrous or damaging scenario for the young person.

You can go about this in three ways:

• Whistleblowing: You can report any child welfare concerns that you have to the NSPCC who can support you and advise on what to do next.

• Organisational child protection procedures: If your organisation deals with a lot of young people, there may already be a safeguarding process in place for you to follow. For example, if you work in a school, there should be a designated child protection teacher for you to share your concerns with.

• Local authority child protection: Each area in the UK has its own child protection team who can help you to report issues and take action against child abuse or neglect.

You can find the details of your local authority child protection service here.

How to improve your child safeguarding procedures

The best way to improve your existing child safeguarding procedures to ensure less cases of abuse slip through the net and more children can be protected is to keep your knowledge in this area up to date.

This means seeking advice from experts in this field, reading up on success stories or case studies and researching the best strategies for your business.

You can achieve all of the above for your organisation by attending our annual Child Safeguarding Conference in December.