Am I out of order if I report this to child services?

[Em94]

For background my job involves safeguarding and if this was discovered through work I would 100% be reporting but in this instance I’m not sure it’s my place.

I have bought something off Facebook market place and been to collect today, upon arrival no one answered the door so I waited in the car and tried again.
a boy aged 9/10 answered the door & i asked if there was an adult home as I was here to collect something. The boy got the item for me let me look at it and told me his parents were in bed. (I didn’t go inside, this was all at the doorstep).
he was dirty, unclean toe nails, the house smelt and you could see the clutter everywhere. No curtains open.
I can’t stop thinking about it and unsure whether it’s my place to do anything

Call the police and let them do a check, that way if nothing is amiss SS aren’t involved. You may find SS are already involved, but I believe the police would have a record of this. Poor kiddo.

The child would be telling the truth. The parents are probably lazy arses, can’t even be bothered to get him to school. I would make SS aware. Poor baby.

It is completely reasonable to report it to Social Work but unfortunately they may not be able to do very much - but still report it just in case . I have had a lot of very positive experiences with social workers and the vast majority do care passionately about their job but there are just not the resources or time to cover the extent of lower level abuse/neglect and there is enormous pressure to close cases.

I'm glad you have reported it. I hope the little boy will be OK.

Well done, OP. You have done the right thing.

I’m glad to see so many people saying report it (and the fact that OP did report it). Too many of these threads usually get filled up with people saying ‘non of your business’, ‘keep your sticky beak out’ etc

Hopefully, the message about safeguarding is everyone’s business is finally getting through

Or maybe the parents are crippled with Covid or a vomiting bug and DS has it too but is a day ahead of them and up to answering the door, at which point the house is dirty because they've been ill for a week. 🤷‍♀️
What a horrible judgemental post, you have no idea of the situation.

OP you did the right thing but some of PPs comments are ridiculously dramatic. There's likely a very logical explanation and SS will get to the bottom of it all.

@Em94 if you hear the outcome of any investigations, we would love to hear.

God I hate this place for this sort of rubbish

You think a house gets to be that cluttered and smelly because the household has a cold/bug for a week

No, it doesnt.

Theres always some sort of reason for something isnt there rather than seeing whats there in front of your eyes in front of you.

Just to reinforce this point. Safeguarding is everyone's business, always. That's in the training. Maybe it's nothing at all but that's not anyones call but SS. You could be the most gental loving parent I the world and neglect a child unwittingly.

Always boggles my mind when people say don’t report as you don’t know if there’s anything wrong.

Great let social services make that judgement. Do these people not care when there’s another neglect case on the news? A poor boy so weak he can’t even hold up his own duvet? No, we best not be judgemental, that’s what really matters.

Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility and I’d always report. If social services ever came knocking I’d work with them, hopefully they’d asses we were all fine. But I’d appreciate they were doing their job.

Yes report it

I’m flabbergasted that for someone that is involved in safeguarding through work is coming on a forum to ask if you should safeguard a child that is clearly neglected, and quite possibly in imminent danger. Safeguarding is a responsibility we all have as adults.

Absolutely report it

You are aware that conversations about what next steps to take about a child/family/situation take place all day every day in social work teams/nursing teams/police teams/teaching discussions up and down the country

People talk to each other about their view, what they've seen, how they interpreted it and what this might mean and what to do next. Whats the right intervention, whats the threshold, whats the criteria. Its right to reflect and discuss about these things.

So no need to be flabbergasted

Mine too but they also get a bath when they come in. I think there is a difference in what type of clutter, you could have a lot of clutter but still have a clean house and from the way op described the house having a smell i don't think that was the case

Yes, absolutely report. You may be the only person in this child’s life that can make a difference right now. You need to trust your instincts and allow Social Services to make the judgement calls.

The number one rule of Safeguarding is that it is everyone’s duty to report a concern.

Reporting doesn’t mean there is an issue, it means there might be. It’s for someone else to assess.

There would be fewer dead children in the world if more people paid attention and acted on concerns.

surely it's not that hard to work out that he answered the door in bare feet?!?

Just wanting to join the chorus of posters who will have agreed with you reporting.

A cluttered house isn't necessarily a problem. Sometimes homes aren't perfect. Maybe they're having a clear out and the house is in shambles, which happens to most of us at some point, but with the other details it's concerning.

Dirt under the toenails- lack of teaching the boy proper hygiene and actual dirt under his nails points to longer term neglect.

The parents not being up at 10am on a school day... that's pretty rubbish, have they not woken so he hasn't gone to school? Or are they all unwell, and they're sleeping instead of taking care of him?

And the thing that's glaringly obvious- most women I know send their partner, or boyfriend to the door for Facebook pick ups. They've chosen to expose their young child to whoever it is that's turning up to their house, whilst they're asleep. You could've been a right weirdo. Luckily for the child you are someone who works in safeguarding instead.

I too would have made a referral.

Well done OP.

Sometimes you just need to process the information by speaking to other people about it first.

You would not have had that gut instinct or started a thread if you didn’t think it was an issue.
Do not feel bad about asking on here first.

What's the worst that can happen if you report it?

What's the worst that can happen if you don't report it?

I'd report it

This.

I really hope we move on from the “not my business” viewpoint and to one that puts children first

C'mon you're trained in safeguarding?! You know the answer to this. It's everyone's job to report in whatever context. It was sufficient to make you feel uncomfortable so report it. How will you feel if in a few weeks or even days he's the next tragic face on the news because too many responsible adults let him down?