Has anybody called social services on a neighbour before?

[L0ts]

So without going in to too much detail, I’m pretty certain the 2 year old next door doesn’t get the proper care he needs as the mother and father are quite honestly downright vile.

What I’m wondering is, has anybody else done this before? And did they take it seriously when you asked to remain anonymous?

I’m just worrying because I have a 3 year old myself and I’m currently pregnant with number 2 and don’t really want any trouble but can’t bare hearing how they are treating this poor boy any longer.

Whenever kids die through neglect or abuse people ask why the neighbours didn't come forward or nobody said anything sooner. Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility if you feel that there is something amiss and a child is being mistreated then report. Don't expect anything to happen, but it may contribute to a bigger picture or give the parents a kick up the arse to parent better.

What are the parents doing that’s vile?

Yes, I overheard my 4 year old neighbour say daddy gets drunk and hits mummy and I couldn’t not do anything about it. I phoned the out of hours children and families but they said to phone the police, which I did anonymously. The police need to submit an entry on a database which is shared with social work and they then decide the appropriate course of action, if any.

Nothing came of this (as far as I’m aware), however it’s documented on their systems should anything happen again.

My view is that child protection is everyone’s responsibility and it’s better to be safe than sorry

It will be kept anonymous if you are clear this is what you want. But a lot of the time families work out who has shared the information.
But please, don't let this put you off sharing, because safeguarding is everybody's responsibility and your information may be the missing piece to the puzzle.

You don’t have to give your name if you don’t want to, you will be asked for a contact phone number and it will absolutely be kept anonymous anyway
the child may already be known, may have been referred by other concerned people so it’s definitely worth calling.

I reported a neighbour a few years ago who screamed at her children every single night.

SS very helpful, they offered her more support, she was a single mum and not coping with four under 8.

Safeguarding is everyone’s concern. Report.

@Sexismdoesntrule They shout at him whenever they speak to him tbh. I never hear them say anything positive to him or talk to in a normal way. The walls are very thin and since it’s been hot weather we have our windows open and so do they, so you literally hear everything.

Just to name a few things I’ve heard ‘Have your milk and shut the fuck up’ ‘You’re being an arsehole again’ and ‘I’ll smack you again in a minute’

Only ever see him taken out in to the car in his pjs, I’ve never seen him in normal clothes. The mother also goes out in her pjs too, it’s the father who is dressed so I can only assume her and the kid stay in the car.

We get the smell of weed travel through our house if their windows are open at the same
time as ours, I’m pretty certain they are smoking it with the child in the house.

Just today alone I’ve heard her scream at him, and I honestly mean SCREAM at him in the garden. It made him cry so hard he was coughing and choking which she then shouted at him some more for apparently attention seeking. She must have been with her dad in the garden and she said ‘I’m sick of him dad, every fucking day is the same with him’.

You can report anonymous but most people can guess easily who reported them

You have to report this.

Please, please report this, and continue to report. Keep a log of every incident like this. That poor child.

Oh god this is awful. Poor little boy. I totally understand why you'd have reservations but please phone social services. He can't speak up for himself.

Please report. That poor kid

I have twice and both times the reason was because of very young children being left alone. I'm talking 3 year olds not late primary school.

In both cases the parents were completely vile and neglectful and one did actually eventually have the children taken away, sadly too little too late as they were hurt.

I do think too many people look the other way when children are clearly at risk.

If I heard that level of screaming abuse at a small child, I'd call the police, not SS.

@takeitandleaveit They had a four hour long argument back in April and we called the police then. The child was screaming and crying the entire time and was the only reason we called. The police came and spoke to them for roughly
30 minutes but I’m not sure they even did anything.

I called the NSPCC about how a neighbour treated her children. They said it didn’t meet the threshold for intervention but a few weeks later I heard something even worse and called again. This time they sent the police (we saw them attend several times) and her behaviour did change somewhat.

I get that it feels scary. I was worried that she would know it was me who called (she did, I was the only person who could have overheard her) but actually even though she was a nasty, aggressive piece of work she actually became afraid of me and would cross the road to avoid me. Even if she had been aggressive to me I reasoned that it was still my responsibility to report her - those children had no one else to do that for them. I don’t ever want to be someone who hears about a terrible case of abuse and knows that they could have reported something but didn’t.

What I would say is that social services won't just swoop in and take children for no reason.

They will offer support in the first instance.

Do not sit on this, you must call them.

I have a 2 year old and a 10 month old and I KNOW how hard it can be, this isn’t ok, I would be equally concerned seeing those things. You’re not making a mountain out of a mole hill.

Please report. This meets the threshold.

I have, twice. They say it's anonymous but I'm not to certain whether it is. Having said that - I would report any suspicions I had again if I needed to.

Jesus Christ phone social services!!! That poor child

Not social services but I called the police once because I heard a neighbour screaming with rage at their young kids and I remain convinced I heard a slap.

Police visited the house within the hour. Obviously they didn't share specifics with me, only to say that I did the right thing and they were 'involving other agencies'.

It was five years ago. I still see the kids around. They look like they are doing better these days - they are clean and look well fed. The Dad appears to be in work.

I have no regrets. I'd do it again....

I wonder if you are my neighbour too! Im worried about a little boy around 2 also, mum screams and shouts at him and he cries ever such a lot. They are in a top floor flat and never seem to take him out. I'm seriously thinking of reporting.

Yes and because of the circumstances of the report she knew it was me.
She never spoke to me again but did get some much needed support with her DC.

I'd do it again in a heartbeat, how many times do we hear neighbours say "I always thought there was something wrong" after a child dies, but no one reports it.

Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility.

I never understand threads like these. If I had a concern over a child’s welfare I’d phone everyone I could every time, not post it online.

what do you want here? Nobody here can either convince or deter you.