Child protection, at what point would you do something?

[Pickle]

Tricky one.

There is a young baby that lives near us. I've never seen him, or his parents, but due to the nature of London living I hear them... a lot.

The baby cries a lot, which is normal. What's not normal is the reaction I hear to the baby, mainly by a male, who tends to shout "all right, all right", "shut up", and varying other things. The baby gets more and more upset, his response louder and louder.

Today it's been really bad, to the extent I'm hearing the baby cry a really horrible cry, past the point of upset. I've got 3 kids, I've never heard any of them make this kind of cry.

I'm on the verge of ringing child protection services, as I feel very uneasy about it. This has been going on for about the last 8 weeks, the baby sounds like its under 6 months old.

What would you do?

[susyp]

I would definitely call, at the least it sounds like a family who could do with some support. I am sure you can be anonymous. I have no idea what the procedure is but at the least surely they would send around a social worker to see if they need some help. Better than doing nothing i think. Tis tricky though I know.

susypx

[Pickle]

Thanks SusyP, I think I will next week. I think if I occasionally heard some soothing noises in response to the cries I wouldn't be concerned, as I know how draining it can be dealing with a baby. But all I hear is negative responses, and the baby becoming more upset.

[stacker285]

As susvp says, this does sound like a family that needs support. If you don't want to speak to social services directly, why not contact the NSPCC who can listen to your concerns and assess the response needed. They are a 'big power' within child protection, not just a childrens charity, and can provide you with the support you need by reporting your concerns, as well as taking the appropriate course of action in the childs best interest.

I deal a fair amount with social services, and they can be intimidating to contact as a professional, never mind as a 'concerned neighbour'. NSPCC seems to tick the right boxes to me as far as non-professional referrals are concerned.

Whichever route you have taken, you are never likely to find out the outcome of your referral, but you can rest assured that someone will have taken note and responded approriately to your concerns.

Good luck!

[Pickle]

Thank you Stacker285, that advice is much appreciated.

[stacker285]

I should note that i'm not affilitated to the NSPCC, lol

[Pugwash]

I am a social worker for adults, I had concerns many years ago about a family who used to live next to me and contacted children and families social work team. I was horrified at the way the spoke to me (I did not tell them my profession) and how they reacted to the information I gave them. Stepfather of the 2 girls was always shouting at them, they looked frightened in his company - one was a bed wetter and was publically humiliated by her stepfather. Mother could not care less - stayed in bed most of the time and let the girls do what they want. The final straw was when I was going to work one morning a man came up to me and asked whether I knew 'this little girl' it was the 3 year old. He had found her playing out in the street near the Plough Pub and was concerned. He had knocked on many doors until he came to me and I of course recognised her. Managed to rouse her mother from her bed who had no concern that the child could have been abducted or injured. My other neighbour contacted the NSPCC who acted and we found that the girls were on the child protection list

If all else fails and you do not get response from SSD or NSPCC I would contact Child Line and ask their advice.

[midivydale]

Many years ago I contacted social services regarding a little girl I was teaching in ballet. This was in Sweden anda u years ago. Daunting as it was - I was only 18yrs at the time - it was the right thing to do on that occasion.

I also spoke to my health visitor about someone I thought needed more support.

Follow your gut instinct Pickle, you seem a very sensible woman. One phone call too many is better than the phonecall that never was when it comes to child welfare.

[buggie]

Think NSPCC is v good starting point & would be able to offer you advice/possibly report things on for you.

AFAIK Southwark HV's are attached to GP surgeries rather than covering a geographical area so isn't guaranteed that your HV would also be their HV, but, hopefully by contacting NSPCC their HV could be located & informed of the concerns & follow up with the family.

CP cases are rarely straight forward (families often aren't upfront about their problems/difficulties) so a lot of it is collecting up the pieces of the jigsaw to get the real picture - Pickle, you've got a chunk of that jigsaw in this case so by sharing your observations the family may well get the support they obviously need without things escalating.

Is a scary call to make (calling SS at work to check if families were known when I was in A&E never got any easier), but it's got to be done xx

[cactus]

I would contact Southwark children's services duty social worker: 02075251921

and discuss your concerns. I've usually found them to be quite helpful,

or as others have suggested, the NSPCC.

I agree with midivydale, follow you instincts if you feel something isn't right.

[espelli]

I would also contact southwark duty team. Buggie makes a really good point - your information could be really important in helping with an assessment of what the family might need. I have been involved in several child protection conferences (part of my job in a primary school) where the key information has come from neighbours and has enabled the right level of support to be put in place.

If you were at all worried that the baby may be in danger then you could call 999 and the police would do a welfare check. Pre-mobile babies are particularly vulnerable. It's very unsettling to call social services and as Buggie says, it never gets any easier. I still feel sick every time I make a referral but it has to be done.

[miss brown]

I would act on this aswell being a nursery worker I wouldn't leave it just incase you don't want the horrible feeling in the back of your mind do whats best for that child

[Goodliz]

Pickle, I'd defo give one/ some of these organisations a call.

[Pugwash]

Re my previous post - the incident quoted was several years ago and things have changed a lot in Children and families Social services because of the high profile cases which come to court. Although I have not had to notify them of concerns re a child as a neighbour, professionally I have raised questions and have done joint assessments with C & F. If I had mentioned my profession years ago - I wonder whether I would have got the same response.

[fl0wer]

Yes, echoing what the others have said. I missed reading this thread last week and I would like to add my sincere wish that all is going better for that little family already.

The way the Child Protection law changed in recent years puts the child's wellbeing ahead of all other considerations. It means that even if one would rather not "get involved" the priority is the child. The law was also meant to make different branches of the caring professions liaise over vulnerable children, so it doesn't really matter where you start, the GP, social worker, nursery helper, teacher, health visitor. What does matter is that parents get help to better understand what a baby's language indicates & that any violence stops at once, whether it is physical or emotional.

There are some good commonsense policewomen around ED and if the man of the house is someone known already, it will show up on the records. They would then help contacting social services with more urgency, because, as anyone who was maltreated in childhood would tell you, time and gentleness are of the essence for a little child in pain.

[Cora]

A bit vague on this but my understanding is that latest lawas mean that anyone who has suspicions of neglect/abuse now have a legal obligation to report it.....so it's no longer a matter of 'should I shouldn't I' but you are now legally obliged to act.

I am no professional so may have understood this out of context...

[Pickle]

Just to update, I put a call in to the NSPCC last week and gave the information I have. It was well received, despite the vagueness of what I could tell them (pretty much all I know is a door number, I've never seen the family, just heard them). Thanks to everyone for your support on this, both here and by private message, it has been really useful.