To wonder what happens when a child is neglected? What is the threshold for safeguarding procedures?

So many PP saying to report to the school. The school do not have the knowledge you seem to have, they wouldn't make a report on your behalf because it's hearsay. If you have concerns then you make the referral to social care. That said, wouldn't meet threshold anyway by the sounds of it.

Is your son planning on moving out with his daughter without telling her mum?! Why does he need an escape plan?

Honestly it doesn't sound likely that it would meet the threshold for social services intervention. And if it did it would be at the lowest level (3 or 4) meaning any intervention is very much voluntary and by consent. The best and most likely avenue to protect them is for their father to apply to court. That's not something you have any control over however. Having said all that, there may be more info known by the school or GP so it's still worth reporting to social services.

Awful advice.

No, do not exaggerate. Report what you know, no more, no less. How can social services prioritise who needs help most urgently if people exaggerate - by doing this you could be taking a social worker away from a situation that truly needs input immediately. And it'll make your referral seem less reliable if parts are false / exaggerated.

Other than the infections, none of that sounds anywhere near the threshold to me.

Reporting to school and nursery is not enough. You need to report to social services directly as well.

You mention "violence to animals" OP. RSPCA will tell you this often goes hand in glove with violence to children.

Make the report, exaggerate to get them the attention.
Take your son and GD
move away and don’t look back.

Is there anything you can do to help them? Or your son? Get their medical needs met at the very least?

Any concern is enough to report for safeguarding, sometimes it's not about what one person sees but a bigger picture that comes from several smaller things. So if you're concerned, report.

That said they obviously have family support if someone else is reading with them, I don't think there's an issue with small children bathing twice a week. It's awfully unlucky rather than anything else to have had scabies, impetigo, nits, ringworm and more. Are you saying they've had all these and more? If they have surely several other pupils have all had them too?

The threshold is way, way higher than this.

I mean, as a pp said, anyone can report any concerns, but nothing you have described would trigger a report from me.

I despair at the number of dc taken off CP plans when the children deserve to be protected. I am always confused how some individual cases hit the headlines and people express their utmost horror, when there are so many children being let down by underfunded Social Care in our country, but you seem to be talking about 2 children who are bathed regularly, who have enough to eat, and who attend school consistently.

What is your relationship to them @Cassy2000 ?

Sad as it is that won't be counted as neglect. An almost nine year old girl trying to feed her baby brother with 1 scoop of formula and cold water from the tap shaken up and given to a 5 month old baby was deemed as neglect. Both DC taken into care by SS but Judge gave them back to this drug addict mother. The bar is so so low for making sure all DC receive good quality care and a decent chance in life. Even if/when SS take child into care Judges often send them back to parents because they promise to stop the drugs/alcohol etc but they usually don't because they are addicted.

I would expect school to make to CSC. But I would make a report myself, better to say something if you have a concern. You can do this anonymously.
what’s the worst outcome of making a report and everything is ok?

DD friend, age 11-12, told my DD she was pregnant from a brothers friend. Of course I reported it. Turns out other mothers did as well.

Turns out the girl was telling loads of stories about her mother abusing her, and she & her mother both being pregnant. Quite a few moms reported it to school or safeguarding.

Girl came to school and was angry the other girls told their mums. She admitted it was lies & got idea from TV.

Good school attendance is a positive, including that the school see the children very frequently.

Sadly other children live in much worse conditions than you describe, without hitting threshold.

Are you able to contact the school ( if you are the other parent for instance;? If not contact the LA safeguarding team. Any additional information may add to a bigger picture. Your LA will have this, just google safeguarding children.

https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/safeguarding/report-concern

If the parent(S) are in agreement, early help support is the most likely first step.

not a lot. I was neglected to the extremes as a child and was on a child protection plan for 4 years then went down to child in need.

Midwife here. This would probably qualify for ‘Early Help’ At best but for that level of support, you would need the mum’s consent to do a referral. Unless there was any proof that her ‘neglect’ was having serious repercussions for the children’s medical or emotional health, that is nowhere near the threshold for neglect from a safeguarding point of view. It would be worth understanding if there were any underlying reasons for this - mental health or substance abuse problems for example?

At first I thought you could be their teacher but then you wouldn’t know how frequently they had a bath so I assume you know the family personally?

How do you know the infections aren’t treated? Reoccurring nits can be a problem and I think impetigo can flare up.

Exactly this. The thresholds are only relevant if you’re reporting in a professional capacity - but even then you’re allowed to contact for guidance.

However, as you asked, the thresholds for your own county council can be googled and you can make a referral through your local MASH (multi agency safeguarding hub)

Sounds like an early help referral may be useful for the untreated infections. If you are a family member I suggest you ask for a confidential meeting with the school.

I reported exh to ss for 2 major concerns year ago.
Issue 1 he left 3 under 10 dc home alone every Saturday night when he went to the pub.
'Different parenting styles' was their response..
Dc disclosed to me a convicted sex offender was in their bedroom playing Xbox while exh was downstairs.
'bet it was nice for the dc to have a catch up with man x'...
Reported to Cafcass as still involved with court proceedings...
Exh made the dc say it didn't happen..
Guess who was believed?

The medical neglect could be an issue.

Homework and low attainment are never going to be as issues.

Do they have beds?

How often do the sheets get changed?

Do they have clothes & shoes that fit? How many wears before they are washed?

Are they overdue dental & optical check ups?

Vaccinations?

Frequent a&e trips?

Accidents at home?

Animal faeces on the carpets?

Toilet roll in bathroom?

Clean towels?

Eat fruit & veg?

Smacking/shouting?

Home heated?

Sleep routine?

Underweight/overweight?

Out of the house at weekends?

Threshold for children being taken into care or even CP or CIN is very high. I agree with PP that the constant infections would be the most concerning thing as that's a health need.