Growing Up Well: A New Shared Approach to Addressing Neglect in Sheffield

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to let you know that Sheffield's new strategy, Growing Up Well: A strategy for addressing neglect in Sheffield, 2026-2030, has now been launched alongside a quick guide and an information pack for practitioners. Together, these resources set out our shared commitment to improving outcomes for children who are experiencing, or are at risk of experiencing, neglect. You can find them on our Neglect page.

Neglect remains one of the most common forms of child abuse and can have a profound impact on children's health, wellbeing, development, identity and future life chances. The effects are often cumulative and can be easy to miss unless we actively seek to understand children's day-to-day experiences.

The strategy is built around a number of key principles that we want to see reflected across all services working with children, young people and families:

Listening to children and understanding their lived experience.
Maintaining a whole-family approach while remaining child focused.
Recognising the impact of neglect early and responding at the earliest opportunity.
Being professionally curious and looking beyond first explanations.
Understanding the difference between poverty and neglect.
Working together across agencies to share information and coordinate support.
Focusing on measurable improvements in children's lives.

As we begin implementation, there are some important questions that we would like all practitioners and managers to keep at the forefront of their practice:

What is daily life like for this child?
How do I know?
What is the child's experience telling me?
What has changed and what has stayed the same?
Am I seeing a single incident, or a pattern of cumulative harm?
Have I considered emotional neglect as well as physical needs?
Am I curious enough about what may be happening behind the presenting issue?
Am I clear about the difference between neglect and the impact of poverty whilst maintaining focus on the child's needs?

The strategy also reminds us to pay particular attention to groups of children who are often more vulnerable to serious harm through neglect, including babies, adolescents, disabled children and children whose parents are facing significant challenges and vulnerabilities.

Safeguarding Awareness Week

We will formally launch the strategy during Safeguarding Awareness Week, 16-20 November 2026, which this year will have a particular focus on neglect. Throughout the week we will be sharing resources, learning opportunities and practical tools to support good practice across the partnership. More information to follow.

What happens next?

Over the coming months we will be:

Promoting the new strategy and information pack.
Promoting further use of the Graded Care Profile 2 as a tool to work with families to enhance the care their children receive.
Continuing work to implement the Graded Care Profile 2 Antenatal.
Expanding training opportunities.
Introducing and supporting Neglect Champions.
Developing opportunities for practitioners to share learning and good practice.
Strengthening our understanding of what is making a difference for children and families.

For now, our ask is simple:

Keep children's lived experiences at the centre of your thinking. Be professionally curious. Notice patterns. Talk to children about their lives. Work together. Act early.