A Belfast woman who is in charge of the NSPCC helpline is urging people to continue to report child welfare concerns as the coronavirus crisis deepens.
As the lockdown remains in place throughout Northern Ireland, Joanne McDonnell and her staff at the NSPCC helpline in Belfast are urging people to be alert to possible signs of neglect and abuse and to call the helpline if they are concerned.
Social distancing, self-isolating and quarantine can cause stress and changes in everyone’s behaviour.
Spotting the signs of abuse might be more difficult and it can be difficult to know for certain if something is wrong.
Possible signs of abuse include: aggressive or repeated shouting; hearing hitting or things being broken; children crying for long periods of time; very young children left alone or outdoors by themselves; children looking dirty or not changing their clothes and children being withdrawn or anxious.
Staff at the NSPCC helpline, which is based primarily in Belfast, have been granted key worker status by the NI Executive which will allow the essential service, to be staffed for adults to get in touch by phone or online to get advice and share their concerns about a child, anonymously if they wish.
Joanne McDonnell, Service Head of Helpline, said now more than ever, they need the public to be alert to signs of abuse in their area.
“We are appealing to communities to act when they are worried about a child or family. Because the vast majority of people are at home now, we urge people to listen and be aware as to what is going on around them. If you hear an unusual amount of shouting at children through walls or in gardens, or see any posts on social media which sparks your concern about a child’s welfare then please get in touch with us,” she said.
She said for thousands of children experiencing abuse and neglect, now more than ever, home isn’t a safe place and being asked to stay there could feel very frightening.
“We are concerned about children who are living in homes where they are subjected to domestic abuse and are concerned what a child sees, hears or is at present during an incident of abusive behaviour or where a child is used to abuse a victim,” she added.
The NSPCC helpline team are professional practitioners with backgrounds in jobs like social work, teaching, counselling and health care.
The Helpline teams in Belfast and Manchester work 365 days per year to protect children in Northern Ireland and across the rest of the UK. Last year (2018/19) the helpline dealt with almost 73,000 contacts from people who were concerned about a child’s welfare.
Ms McDonnell said calls have been coming in from parents concerned about coronavirus, issues around education and separated parents worried about contact issues.
“At the helpline, we are very concerned that due to families being isolated that more incidents of children being harmed may occur. Children who do not feel safe at home are often dependant on professionals to keep them safe, eg schools, teachers, social workers or health professionals,” she added.
“Children are now more reliant on family, friends, neighbours and their local community to protect them as professionals are not readily available. At the helpline, our highly skilled practitioners continue to come to work so that they can take your call to help safeguard children at this time of unprecedented change for children and families.”
She added: “I’m so proud of my staff right now and how they have adapted to this evolving work environment. The staff at the helpline have continued to show their dedication to protecting children by working additional hours, facing additional challenges to come to work to provide an essential service for essential service for children, families and communities.”
The free NSPCC Helpline provides adults with a place they can obtain advice and support, share their concerns about a child or get general information about child protection. Adults can contact the Helpline on 0808 800 5000 or email help@nspcc.org.uk.