11/06/2012

NSPCC Report Record Number Of Calls

The NSPCC has said they received a record number if calls about child neglect last year, in what it has described as a “worrying trend”.

Between April 2011 and March 2012, it handled more than 12,000 contacts about neglect, the biggest number since its helpline was launched.

Some 8,600 led to the involvement of police or social services.

The NSPCC report said neglect calls had doubled in the past two years, and were up by a third in the last year alone.

A rise that is placing additional pressure on already stretched children's services, with more children being taken into care and families being affected by cuts.

Dr Ruth Gardner, head of the NSPCC's neglect programme, said the reason for the increase in neglect calls could partly be due to members of the public being more willing to speak out.

"This can only be a positive thing - but there is clearly a worrying trend, not just in our figures, but from a range of agencies and bodies. More research is needed on why this sharp increase has occurred," she said.

She said there was a need to provide social workers with better training and give parents "access to support to help them to change their neglectful behaviour".

(H/GK)


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