Safeguarding Children and Neglect: Recognition and Response

The Safeguarding Children and Neglect: Recognition and Response Course aims:

The course will help participants to develop their understanding of the impact of neglect on the lived experience of the child. It will consider strategies for working with families with complex needs; assessing risk and working towards effective interventions

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• appreciate indicators of neglect and assess its impact on the development of children and young people
• have increased awareness of current research and learning from local and national Serious Case Reviews and Reviews of Practice
• feel confident using local tools for assessing and responding to neglect
• employ an increased understanding of the origins of neglect and compromised parenting, in order to assess and support capacity for change
• develop skills in professional judgement relating to assessment of need and risk
• develop effective strategies for working with families within a multi-agency framework
• share a greater awareness of dilemmas relating to issues of thresholds for intervention; personal and professional values and the emotional impact of working with uncertainty and resistance
• develop action plans for future practice

The training includes presentation, group work and inter-active exercises. It emphasises action planning to take learning and practical skills forward

The course will be delivered by Ruth Pearson MA CQSW:

Ruth Pearson is a freelance trainer and facilitator delivering a variety of courses, specialising in areas of neglect and working with resistant families. She has over 30 years’ experience in the field of child protection and safeguarding, originally as a practicing family social worker and subsequently as a Senior Practitioner in Child Protection. She then became involved the in the area of multi-agency child protection training and development and managed safeguarding training services for two ACPCs /LSCBs.  She has developed and delivered training for many statutory and voluntary sector organisations.

Ruth has a Masters in Child Protection and Child Welfare and has lectured in Social work at both Sheffield Hallam University and the University of Sheffield. She is the author of Working with Hostile or Uncooperative Families in Good Practice in Safeguarding Children (Hughes & Owen, 2009).  Ruth has written guidance on ‘Disguised Compliance’ for Community Care Inform (2013).

Ruth has been the independent author for a number of Serious Case Reviews, and has undertaken audits of practice for Local Safeguarding Children Boards, covering many issues including long term neglect.