Mum: “What do you
want to be when you’re older?”
For children being exploited criminally, including through
county lines, their future is uncertain. Children as young as 7 are being groomed and exploited
to move and sell drugs across the country, with police saying they are struggling to deal with the scale of the
problem.
The National Crime Agency, in January 2019, reported that there were over 2,000 phone
numbers being used on county lines networks, and that the ‘industry’ is worth
£500million. There are high levels of associated violence and the Home Office
has highlighted the issue as a national priority in the 2018 Serious Violence
Strategy.
Missing has been recognised as being one of the key early
warning signs of exploitation, with recent Missing People research, ‘A safer return,’
finding that nearly 1 in 10 returned missing children disclosed that
they had been criminally exploited. However, the return from missing is not often used as an opportunity to
intervene to prevent these children from becoming more embedded in exploitation.
‘All of us were
broken’, new Missing People research, shows the
devastating impacts of an escalation of exploitation, including school
exclusion, injury, involvement in the criminal justice system, and
homelessness. The research also shows the challenges agencies are having in
responding to exploitation, from a lack of awareness of key warning signs to receiving
limited training, to remit limitations and a lack of resources.
So what can be done?
Missing People believes that the answer lies in a better
multi-agency response to the issue. This should include training for all
professionals working with young people, from teachers, to social workers, to
those working in the police, including on the links between missing and
exploitation and how to respond when risks are identified.
Over 70 delegates across Birmingham and surrounding areas attended
Missing People’s most recent conference County Lines: National Picture and Best
Practice on 19th September. 100% of delegates said they would
recommend the conference to other people! Join us for our next conference in
Reading, bringing together professionals from education, social care,
police, and the voluntary sector together to share learning about how to tackle
the issue.
● Reading, 24th
October 2019 £85 per person
There will be an opportunity to learn about the current
landscape, including from the National County Lines Coordination Centre and
Abianda Social Enterprise supporting girls who are gang affected, including
Missing People’s Home Office funded national SafeCall helpline, and to learn
about what existing services can do to better safeguard exploited children.
The conferences will be a key chance to learn how to better
support exploited children, their families and carers and to work together to
try to protect these children. If you have any questions please email partners@missingpeople.org.uk
Parent being
supported through SafeCall:
“I spoke to my son about the best toy I had when I was his age. He
spoke to me about the best knife to carry.”
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