Unseen Men (engagement of fathers and male carers)

Men can play a vital role in their children’s development and wellbeing and have a major influence on the children they care for. However, as highlighted in a national review by England’s Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel ‘The Myth of Invisible Men’, male caregivers and male partners sometimes go ‘unseen’ by services involved with children.

Reasons for this oversight include:
• a lack of professional engagement and curiosity
• an over-focus on the quality of the care children receive from their mothers
• inadequate information sharing between services.

Two main types of unseen men (sometimes referred to as ‘hidden’ men) have been identified in case reviews.
• Men who posed a risk to a child, which resulted in the child suffering serious harm or death.
• Men who could have protected and nurtured the child in their life but were overlooked by professionals.

In 2023, the ESSCP Quality Assurance Subgroup conducted an appreciative style audit of safeguarding cases where there was good engagement of fathers and other male carers to safeguarding children. The full report can be found here: ESSCP QA Appreciative Inquiry Engagement of Males – March 2023

 

Resources

• Unseen men: learning from case reviews (nspcc.org.uk)
• RIP Working effectively with men in families – practice pointers for including fathers in children’s social care
• Fatherhood Institute – The ‘Engaging with men in social care’ page has resources designed to support practitioners to engage effectively with men, including a Good Practice Guide(opens new window).
• Becoming dad: a guide for new fathers – Mental Health Foundation
• https://norfolklscp.org.uk/keeping-fathers-in-sight-good-practice-guides