It's important to think about the potential implications for child protection and safeguarding when working with children struggling with their mental health.
Published case reviews highlight the detrimental impact adverse experiences, such as abuse or neglect, can have on a child’s mental health. They also demonstrate how mental health problems can lead to safeguarding concerns. For example, in some case reviews a child's mental health problems led to self-harm or situations which put themselves or others at risk of harm.
This briefing is based on learning from a sample of case reviews published between 2021 and 2022 involving children with a wide range of different mental health problems. These ranged from diagnosed or undiagnosed mental health conditions, to wider concerns related to mental and emotional wellbeing.
Published: May 2023
Our series of thematic briefings highlight the learning from case reviews conducted when a child dies, or is seriously harmed, as a result of abuse or neglect. Each briefing focuses on a different topic or learning for specific sectors, pulling together key risk factors and practice recommendations.
We work with local safeguarding partners to ensure that learning from case reviews can be accessed and shared at a local, regional and national level.
Find out how you can apply the lessons from case reviews and improve your practice to help protect children and young people.
Browse through our list of child safeguarding practice reviews, serious case reviews, significant case reviews and child practice reviews which were added to the National case review repository in the last five years.
Subscribe to our monthly email newsletter alerting you to the case reviews we have added to the National collection of case reviews repository at the NSPCC.
Any child or young person can develop mental health issues. Learn how to recognise the signs, respond to issues, take the right action and support children.
Tips, information and resources to help you promote children and young people’s mental health throughout their childhood.
Our online service empowers young people aged up to 19 to find a way through loneliness. Young people work with a trained befriender who guides and champions them each step of the way.
