Neglect

Neglect remains one of the most pervasive and damaging forms of child abuse, impacting children's health, development and life chances. It remains the primary reason for referrals to Children's Social Care and Child Protection Plans in Lancashire. Neglect impacts children's opportunities from pre-birth to adolescence and beyond to adulthood. This page and the toolkit contained within is for all agencies who are working with Lancashire's children and young people.

Graded Care Profile 2

Lancashire have trained approximately 1800 practitioners across the partnership to licence the practitioner to use the GCP2, the first session dating to December 2022. The GCP2 is embedded within both LCS and EHM Children's Services systems and remains our key tool for assessing Neglect across the partnership.

Dez Holmes – Director of Research in Practice during the Neglect Strategy launch in December 2025 told us that we are using ''the very best tool (GCP2) but it has to be in the hands of thoughtful professionals". Dez gave us the message that the most important aspect is keeping hold of our values and ethics when using any tool.

Lancashire CSAP Multi-agency Neglect Strategy 2025-2028

7MB Neglect Safeguarding Strategy

Link to the NSPCC-  Graded Care Profile 2 (GCP2) | NSPCC Learning

NSPCC Guides from their website to help practitioners recognise and consider the key impact of Neglect - Protecting children from neglect | NSPCC Learning

The Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel also have a good range of resources on their website around Neglect - Neglect | Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel

GCP2 training – there remains monthly training days that alternate between Burnley, Preston and Lancaster, please check your agency Learning and Development pages for details of how to sign up. The GCP2 training will accredit you to use the tool in practice.

Champions Networks – for help, advice, support and good practice - There is a developing network of champions for GCP2 across Children's Services, providing support, advice and good practice. 

The Lancashire CSAP Neglect Toolkit

This toolkit of resources has been developed by multi-agency professionals in Lancashire for use by professionals across all partner agencies. Whilst the GCP2 remains our primary tool for assessing neglect, there has been consensus that a small number of supporting tools will be an asset for practitioners across the partnership. The tools have been adapted from other partnerships across the country. Please see below for each tool and practitioner guidance for choosing the right tool.

Tool 1 –   Lancashire Early Neglect Screening Tool (LENS)

Tool 2 – Neglect Chronology

Tool 3 – A Day in the Life - Guidance

A Day in the Life - Baby    |  A day In the Life - Preschool |  A Day in the Life - Primary School  |  A Day in the Life - Child with disability    | A Day in the Life - Teenager

Choosing the right Neglect Tool - A quick guide for practitioners

Remember: These tools complement one another and can be used alongside GCP2 to improve assessment and understanding of neglect.