#LookCloser: Missing and Exploitation for professionals in the North

A session for professionals working in the North of England to learn about missing episodes and young people at risk of exploitation.
Bringing to life the themes of the next #LookCloser campaign awareness week, this learning session will highlight the connection between children going missing and different forms of child exploitation.

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Why this session matters:

This session will examine why young people who go missing face significantly increased risks of exploitation and other serious harm and will highlight how going missing is itself a critical warning sign of potential exploitation. It will also explore how professional fatigue, victim blaming language and failure to share or act on key information can mean that perpetrators are not stopped and that young people face ongoing harm.

Drawing on The Children’s Society’s practice experience, learning from recent research and input from partners in law enforcement and the voluntary sector, this session will explore the changes to mindsets and systems which are needed to improve professional responses to missing young people to prevent and disrupt child exploitation.

This session aims to equip professionals to:

• Understand the links between missing episodes, child exploitation and abuse, and serious violence and why all missing episodes should be viewed as safeguarding concerns and indicators of exploitation
• Consider how to better use available tools to safeguard young people in advance of and following a missing episode, such as:
• Return Home Interviews (RHIs) & Safe & Well Checks
• Safety Planning, Risk Assessments & Trigger Plans
• Multi-agency panel discussions
• Disruption powers, including civil orders
• Build positive relationships with young people to uncover the root causes of missing episodes and address them
• Use appropriate language when discussing young people who are currently or have previously been missing
• Explore the disproportionate representation of specific demographic groups among young people who experience missing episodes and how to support them

Access the Action for Children National Exploitation Resources here