Parental mental health problems are not in themselves a child safeguarding concern. However, case reviews show that without the right support a parent with poor mental health can sometimes struggle to provide safe and loving care for their child.
The learning from case reviews highlights that professionals from adult and children’s services need to work together to safeguard children when there are signs that a parent’s mental ill-health is impacting their ability to look after their child.
This briefing is based on case reviews published between 2016 and 2022, where the mental health problems of parents were a key factor.
