Although the majority of children and young people who go missing return of their own accord, or are found quickly, all children and young people who go missing irrespective of the amount of time that they are missing for, are at risk.
Children and young people whilst missing from home or care may experience physical and /or emotional abuse, additionally they are more likely to engage in risk taking and self-harming behaviour, they may find themselves sleeping rough, engaging in offending behaviour in order to survive, whilst also feeling fear and loneliness. As a consequence of being missing, their education, family and social relationships and life chances often suffer.
Missing children and young people are particularly vulnerable to trafficking, violent crime, drug and alcohol misuse and exploitation, including sexual exploitation. Significant evidence highlights that children and young people who go missing from home or care are at increased risk of being at risk of, or experiencing sexual exploitation and that missing, as either a cause or consequence, is a direct risk indicator of child sexual exploitation.
It is essential that all partner agencies act rigorously to reduce incidents of children going missing, to locate a missing child and ensure that they are returned to a safe environment, and work together to reduce the likelihood of future missing incidents.
Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is a key duty on local authorities. Children running away and going missing from home, care or view is a safeguarding issue. The DfE published new statutory guidance in January 2014 which primarily addressed the responsibilities on Local Authorities to children who run away or go missing from home care or view.
Definitions of missing
Absent: a child not at a place where they are expected or required to be.
Missing: a child reported as missing to the police by their family or carers.
Missing from care: a looked after child who is not at their placement or the place they are expected to be (e.g. school) and their whereabouts is not known.
Away from placement without authorisation: A looked after child whose whereabouts is known but who is not at their placement or place they are expected to be and the carer has concerns or the incident has been notified to the local authority or the police.
Safe & well check: A return interview can sometimes be confused with a Safe and Well check. Whilst both of these should be conducted when the missing child/young person is found they are not the same. A safe and well check is carried out by the police to establish whether the child has come to any harm whilst missing. This is in line with police duties to ‘protect life and investigate crime’.
Return interview: in depth interview with child (for further information click on the link below)
Child Exploitation Risk Identification Tool
The Child Exploitation Risk Identification tool will help you decide whether a child or young person may be at risk of criminal exploitation or more than one form of child exploitation.
Running away lesson plan for teaching staff and practitioners
Following a consultation with young people across West Yorkshire, we have developed 2 case study videos on the subject of running away. The videos show the stories of 2 teenagers and what happened when they were reported missing.
These videos, along with a lesson plan, are now available to practitioners who work with teenagers to explore the topic in a structured session.
The lesson plan can be used to deliver to a group of young people, or for a one to one basis.
For a copy of the lesson plan please email the LSCP Business Unit.
Risk Vulnerability Management Planning
Where concerns with regard to a child repeatedly missing are raised a Missing Vulnerability and Risk Management meeting should be held and a plan developed. All relevant professionals and carers should be included in the meeting and a multi-agency response to addressing the concerns should be adopted. At the initial meeting the frequency of future meetings to review the plan should be agreed.
The Missing Vulnerability and Risk Management plan should include:
- A risk assessment;
- A reporting strategy – which should include guidance on who will report a child as absent and when to report them as missing;
- Recommendations on the minimum enquiries to be conducted by the Local Authority;
- Recommendations on the minimum enquiries to be conducted by the police;
- A Return Interview strategy; and
- A Missing intervention strategy to address the long-term risk and vulnerability factors. Missing interventions seek to reduce the risks that a child may be exposed to and prevent the likelihood of further incidents of the child being absent, away from placement without authorisation or missing
- A contingency plan to identify alternative actions that require a different approach if the actions in the plan fail to keep the child safe, for example, this might include an alternative address for the child.
Team Briefings
Team briefings have been developed to encourage discussions and reflection on a variety of safeguarding subjects within teams.
