Parents prefer to ask police for help than social workers

Social workers come second from bottom in a list of eight professionals from whom parents feel comfortable asking for help.

Only 28 per cent out more than 2,000 parents polled by children's charity the NSPCC said they were comfortable approaching social workers for support. Housing staff came bottom (15 per cent).

The police came higher than social workers, with 38 per cent of parents saying they felt comfortable asking them for help.

GPs scored the highest, with 79 per cent feeling comfortable followed by health visitors (72 per cent); nursery/education staff (71 per cent); midwives (65 per cent) and family hub/children’s centre staff (46 per cent).

Researchers for the NSPCC speculated it “may reflect factors such as lower levels of routine contact or perceptions associated with statutory or enforcement-led roles”.

They also noted the conflict professionals face navigating safeguarding and relational work: “Practitioners described a structural tension: the same trusting relationships that help practitioners identity concerns early can also make it harder to raise those concerns formally, particularly where staff lack clear supervision and organisational backing.

“They point to power imbalances between professionals and parents – alongside parents’ fear of being judged or facing statutory intervention – as ongoing barriers.”

It Takes a Place: multi-agency safeguarding in family hubs, looked at how “place-based” family support can be more effective.

Researchers carried out interviews and focus groups with professionals at all levels. It also analysed serious case reviews and conducted a YouGov poll in January involving more than 2,000 parents of children from birth to aged five.

The charity said a “crisis-driven” system focused on thresholds instead of prevention was the main cause of safeguarding failures rather than “weak individual practice”.

It also found “fragmented” support and “inconsistent” follow-throughs of referrals.

The report found only 16 per cent of parents were referred for additional support beyond routine appointments.

Of these, nearly a quarter (23 per cent) had to chase up the referral and 11 per cent ended up receiving no further contact.

“These outcomes point to inconsistent communication and reinforce the broader picture of a system that is not always visible, navigable or easy for families to engage with,” said researchers.

“Threshold ambiguity” also left too many vulnerable families without support: “Safeguarding systems designed around crisis intervention often do not fit the preventative, relational nature of early years work,” said the report.

“Families frequently fall into a grey zone; their needs sit below statutory thresholds yet still present risks that require coordinated multi-agency support.”

The research said services were “not designed with early years in mind – creating ambiguity, disjointed care and unresolved risk”.

Its findings highlight the challenge facing the government’s attempt to “reset” children’s services to focus on early intervention and prevention.

A key vehicle of the drive is the national rollout of family hubs providing multi-agency support in communities.

The report claims the government’s Best Start in Life strategy – of which the family hubs rollout is part – had potential.

But the study found 32 per cent of parents had never heard of family hubs. An additional 24 per cent had heard of them but knew nothing about what they do. Only 16 per cent had ever used a family hub.

It makes a list of recommendations to ensure hubs reach struggling families, including launching an awareness campaign to make them more visible.