Child Protection

Stoke-on-Trent City Council provides help and support to young people and their families. We have a statutory duty to investigate circumstances where children are at risk of abuse or neglect and to arrange for them to be protected.

We aim to work with families so that they can care for their children at home, wherever possible. We can help people who are struggling to cope with being parents, by offering short-term support to help them overcome their difficulties. To find out more about this, visit our pages on Children in Need.

What to do if you are worried about a child
You can tell us if you are concerned that a child is being neglected or abused. Please contact our Hanley office- click here for their contact details and opening times.

If it is outside of normal office hours, you can contact our Emergency Duty Team- click here for their contact details and opening times.

What do we mean by abuse or neglect?
A person may abuse or neglect a child by harming them, or by not stopping them being harmed.

Physical abuse could be hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning, suffocating, or causing other physical harm to a child. This could include deliberately making a child unwell.

Emotional abuse is when people regularly mistreat a child and it has a serious affect on the child’s emotional development. It could be making a child feel that they are worthless, unloved, or inadequate for example. It can also be when children are expected to do things which are inappropriate and this makes them frightened.

Sexual abuse is forcing or encouraging a child or young person to take part in sexual activities, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening. It does not just include when physical contact takes place. It could also be encouraging children to look at pornographic material, or involving them in the making of pornographic material. Or it could mean encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways.

Neglect is when people regularly fail to meet a child’s basic physical or psychological needs, which may seriously affect the child’s health or development. For example, not providing suitable food, shelter or clothing, or not giving the child the basic emotional support they need.