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The Protection of Children Standard
Regulation 12
This chapter should be read in conjunction with Derby and Derbyshire Runaway and Missing from Home or Care (RMFHC) Protocol.
Statutory Guidance on Children Who Run Away or Go Missing from Home or Care (DfE, January 2014) where the child is, or has been, persistently absent from the placement.
This guidance in this chapter applies to all children and young people who go absent without permission from residential carers or foster carers. It defines the roles and responsibilities of residential staff and foster carers, the Police and Children's Social Care.
A document of this nature can not anticipate every situation, and therefore professionals and family members should use their judgement to take any action that is deemed necessary to protect the safety of the young person, based on an assessment of risk for each individual young person.
When making decisions as to how to respond when a child or young person appears to be missing, the welfare of the child should always be the primary consideration. When considering individual cases, professionals in all agencies should, where necessary, consult and seek advice from each other in order to support the process of shared risk-assessment.
Due to the possibility that young people who go missing may be at increased risk of sexual or criminal exploitation, this guidance should be read in conjunction with the Derby and Derbyshire Safeguarding Children Partnership procedure for Children at Risk of Exploitation (CRE). For more information see the Derby and Derbyshire Safeguarding Children Partnership Procedures, Children at Risk of Exploitation (CRE) Procedure.
The primary consideration is always the safety and wellbeing of the young person. The objective is to locate the young person and take them to a safe environment. If the young person is looked after the local authority, as Corporate Parent has a duty of care for the safety and wellbeing of that young person and is expected to take such action that reasonable parents would take to safeguard their children. The Police have a duty to investigate all reports of people who go Missing where there is concern for the welfare of that individual or the public.
Professionals should be aware that when a young person repeatedly goes missing, this may be an indicator that they are at risk of sexual or criminal exploitation. In addition, children and young people who go missing are also more vulnerable to exploitation. Professionals must be aware of the indicators of child criminal and sexual exploitation and should access the procedures and guidance on Children at Risk of Exploitation.
If there is concern that a young person is at risk of child sexual or criminal exploitation:
If interventions put in place repeatedly fail to prevent a young person at risk of exploitation (criminal or sexual) from going missing, they must be urgently reviewed in line with the Derby and Derbyshire Safeguarding Children Partnership Procedures, Children at Risk of Exploitation (CRE) Procedure.
A Strategy Meeting is likely to be required.
The level of risk the young person is likely to be exposed to whilst absent will determine the appropriate level of intervention. There are three levels of intervention:
There are various different terms which are used in relation to missing children and young people:
Statutory Guidance on Children Who Run Away or Go Missing From Home or Care (January 2014) uses the following definitions:
The Police Interim Guidance on the Management, Recording and Investigation of Missing Persons (College of Policing 2013) categorise children as either Missing or Absent.
The Police classification of a person as ‘Missing’ or ‘Absent’ will be based on on-going risk assessment. Note that Absent within the Police definition would not include those defined as Away from Placement Without Authorisation above: a child whose whereabouts are known would not be treated as either ‘Missing’ or ‘Absent’ under the Police definitions.
This category includes the following:
Police will not be sent to cases where children/young people are defined as being ‘absent’. Instead the onus will be on care providers to take steps to locate the child/young person, with monitoring by the Police and escalation to ‘missing’ if there is a change to the circumstances that has increased the level of risk. It is expected that all reasonable steps should be taken by care providers to locate the child/young person prior to making a report to the Police. Where they remain absent, and the care provider feels that they may be at risk of harm (i.e. in a place that is inappropriate or with undesirable individuals and it is felt that they may come to harm) then a report should be made to the Police,
Police will attend reports of ‘missing children/young people’.
Children are less likely to abscond, become missing or absent themselves without consent where they feel secure and safe, able to express their feelings and wishes, make appropriate choices and develop positive relationships with the staff and their peers, which are free from bullying.
Children should feel that their plans are being progressed, that they have a positive future and that staff are working enthusiastically to support, advice and listen to them.
They should also have a clear understanding of expectations upon them, the routines of the home and house rules; to this end, they should know whether it's acceptable, or not, to leave the home without permission or consent and they should be counselled and informed of the risks that are posed to them if they become missing, abscond or absent themselves, of the agencies that may be able to help them, such as the Children's Commissioner or Childline - and of the consequences.
Children and young people must be given a certain level of freedom to interact with their environment if they are to develop and have an enjoyable, meaningful life. Carers do not supervise young people 24 hours a day every day of the week. As they grow up, there will be many times when carers are happy for the young person to be unsupervised even when their exact whereabouts are unknown.
It is also normal behaviour for young people to sometimes go away from the home without permission/ authorisation and sometimes fail to return home on time. Although every young person who deliberately or carelessly absents themselves will be exposed to some level of risk, the level of risk they will be exposed to whilst absent will vary significantly. Absent behaviour will not always give rise to immediate concern as most young people are able to safely interact with their environment for short periods of time however factors such as age, level of understanding, health, disability, history of risk-taking behaviour etc. all create additional vulnerability and should always be considered.
Therefore where the circumstances suggest that the young person is Away from Placement without Authorisation rather than missing their carers should consider how capable the young person is of safely interacting with their environment and their level of vulnerability. Unless there is an imminent risk to the young person, it will not be appropriate to immediately contact the Police and carers should take responsibility for locating and returning the young person home.
However, staff should not dismiss the potential risk to a child/young person simply because they persistently go absent. It is the level of risk that they may be exposed to that is the primary issue. If the young person usually stays at a safe address whilst absent and returns unharmed, there is likely to be no immediate concern unless there is something different about this particular absence that raises the risk on this occasion.
If the young person is identified as being at risk of child sexual or criminal exploitation, has a history of associating with a person (or people) who present a risk to children or if the young person sleeps rough, then there is likely to be concern every time they go absent and therefore if they are identified as suffering or likely to suffer significant harm they should be categorised as “missing” unless there is something different about this particular absence that reduces the risk.
If homes are experiencing high levels of absence, absconsions or incidences of children being missing, managers should 'take stock' - they should undertake a formal review of the culture and strategies being used in the home and take steps to reduce the incidents.The child’s social worker has responsibility for ensuring an "Initial Assessment of Risk" is completed when a young person is placed in a children's home or with foster carers. This should include an assessment of the level of risk of the geographical area in which the young person is to be placed, particularly where the placement is outside of the local area.
Where appropriate this can be completed by the children's home or fostering service staff on behalf of the social worker.
It is recognised that in emergency or unplanned placements, that the Placement Plan, including the initial assessment of risk, is unlikely to have been completed within the first 72 hours. However, all available information should be given at the time of placement.
If there are grounds to suspect that the young person is likely to go missing from their new placement, a preventative Strategy Discussion or meeting should be held to reduce the risks. This should involve the Police and also relevant partner agencies.
These initial risk assessments should be reviewed as part of child-care reviewing processes and following any episode of missing
This may be completed as part of the Placement Plan by the social worker or by residential staff after the young person is admitted.
The Initial Risk Assessment should consider:
How likely is it that the young person will go absent:
The risks the young person is likely to face whilst absent:
Is the young person:
Control measures to reduce the risks:
At the time of placement, the young person should be given clear information about:
What action ought to be taken if the young person is absent:
Where there is a likelihood or perceived risk that a child in care may go missing from their established placement:
This information should be included in both the Placement Plan and in the Care Plan.
This assessment should include information on the following:
If the child is absent:
The child should have this protocol explained to him/her and the potential dangers that they may encounter so that he/she understands the implications of running away. All children in care should have the right to independent Advocacy as part of their care reviews and placement planning
All children must have a Placement Plan which takes account of any likely risk of the child becoming Absconding, becoming Missing or Absent without Consent. If there are known/likely risks, the Placement Plan should incorporate measures to reduce or prevent the child becoming absent, and information that would help facilitate the location of the child should they go missing.
Where there are child protection concerns relating to a child and/or where the child has gone missing from the placement or from any previous placement, the Placement Plan must include information agreed between the local authority and the placement provider about the day-to-day arrangements put in place to keep the child safe.
The child’s Looked After Review should be brought forward in the following circumstances:
At the request of the child or where there are concerns about a child who frequently becomes absent or missing, the home's manager should consider raising concerns with the Child's Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) or arranging a meeting between the child and the placing authority to consider the reasons for the child going missing and agree strategies to reduce the risk.
It is advisable that a Police 'Misper' form should be completed for all children, at the point of admission. The Child's Placement Plan should be reviewed regularly and after any absence.
A recent photograph of the child/young person should be retained by the carer for missing from care purposes. Copies of these photographs should also be held on the young person’s electronic or paper record. Digital photographs are preferable and they should be regularly updated. If these are obtained post-placement, careful consideration should be given as to how these photos are taken so as not to stigmatise the child. Unless it is in the best interests of the welfare of the young person, the photographs should not be used for any other purpose without the young person’s consent.
The Police will investigate all cases falling within this guidance and will respond in accordance with Derbyshire Constabulary’s Missing Persons policy.
Children’s services staff will be expected to help the Police in locating missing children and to work cooperatively during any enquiry, for example ringing/speaking to the missing person on their mobile, and searching the home address of the missing person, going out looking for the missing person, including searching the area where the person was last seen (if different to their home) and places where they may be, checking the local hospitals. The Police may be able to check the missing person’s mobile phone and computer and can carry out house to house inquiries.
Even after reporting a child missing, staff and carers should recognise that the local authority is responsible for children in their care at all times and this responsibility is not relinquished when they have reported a child missing to the Police.
Patterns of running away/going missing from children’s homes should be discussed regularly with the Police missing persons unit and other agencies as part of the wider strategy for keeping children safe. If the running away/going missing of a child is causing specific concern, e.g. by its frequent repetition or indicators of particular risk such as contact with an adult or adults deemed to be a risk to children, and in any case where a child goes missing more than four times in a month there should be a multi-agency strategy meeting to discuss the combined response to such incident and concern.
This meeting should be attended by
These discussions should also take place when children are reported missing from homes outside of the authority. The named social worker for the child should co-ordinate these meetings to review the placement if missing episodes are persistent.
If a child indicates that they propose to leave the home without consent, staff should remain aware that a child might want a staff member to stop them or at least give them a good excuse for not going.
It is crucial that staff always show care and concern, even if they are sure that a child is going to run away. It is important to make a point of showing care and concern both for the child's benefit and for other children in the group. However, staff are responsible for taking all reasonable steps to prevent children from leaving, especially if it will result in the child or others being placed at risk.
Children and young people who fall within the category of Away from their placement without Authorisation must be the subject of continuous assessment whilst they remain absent. During their absence circumstances may change and carers need to be in a position to respond. In this phase carers should continue to take all reasonable/ practical steps to establish the whereabouts of the young person and encourage them to return.
Where the young person’s location has been established and carers believe that a breach of the peace would be likely should they physically attempt to bring the young person back, the Police may be requested to attend the address jointly with care staff in order to prevent such an occurrence. This attendance may form part of a “scheduled” response rather than an “immediate” response, depending on the individual circumstances It is possible for young people on care orders to be included in the category of away from their placement without authorisation. Their care plan and current placement may however have been agreed by the court. Any stay with parents that is not part of an approved contact arrangement would need to be agreed by a senior manager in Children's Services.
Clearly some children absent themselves for a short period and then return and their whereabouts are known. Sometimes children stay out longer than agreed, either on purpose or accidentally, and may be testing boundaries. This kind of boundary testing is within the range of normal teenage behaviour and not necessarily considered a risk.
However:
As a last resort, carers can use physical restrictions such as the locking or bolting of door to restrict the child's movement* or Physical Intervention, if this is immediately necessary to prevent significant harm or serious damage to property. However, the use of such interventions may only be used as a last resort, if they are immediately necessary and the harm or damage to property is likely in the predictable future; in any case, the restrictions or interventions must be proportionate and must be compliant with Use of Restraint and Physical Intervention Procedure. Staff must also consider the individual placement or behaviour management plans for individual children, which may state that specific strategies must be used.
*Doors may not be locked or bolted to restrict children's movement unless the home's Statement of Purpose contains a policy on when and how the strategy may be used and staff have received training on the use of it.
In the absence of any agreed strategy the following must apply if it is apparent or suspected that a child is absent or missing. In such circumstances, staff should take what actions are immediately necessary to recover the child, in the context of risks posed to the child or others.
When a child or young person appears to have gone missing, staff should take all reasonable and practical steps in order to identify whether the child is away from placement without authorisation or missing by:
Unless there is an obvious immediate serious risk to the young person or the public, reasonable and practical steps that the substitute carer (e.g. foster carer, residential worker) should take before contacting the Police include:
If the whereabouts of the young person are known, or believed to be known, the carer should only request Police assistance to recover the young person if
When a child or young person goes absent, it is necessary to consider the circumstances of absence to determine whether the circumstances suggest that:
If the circumstances suggest the young person has deliberately or carelessly absented themselves, it is then necessary to consider their vulnerabilities and previous behaviour.
If there is concern that the child or young person may be at risk of harm they should be categorised as a missing person.
There will be a wide range of circumstances when children and young people are missing with cause for concern. These will range from young people at risk of homicide; abduction or risk of exploitation to young people will go voluntarily into risky situations.
The Police also carry out a risk assessment and identify three levels of risk. Young people up until their 17th birthday will always be categorised as being at high or medium risk. The following points should be considered:
A risk assessment concludes with the decision that a young person falls into one of the following four categories:
Young people can move from one category to another, so risk assessments should be repeated at regular intervals.
Staff in all organisations concerned should avoid dismissing the potential significance of repeated running away. Often such children are immediately labelled as the problem and insufficient consideration is given to why they persistently abscond. Persistent running needs to be explored, particularly at the time of post return interviews.
If the level of risk increases due to a change of circumstances or due to the length of absence, the category of absence should be changed by the Police from unauthorised absence to missing.
Regardless of the level of risk, all absences should be upgraded to a missing person if they continue for 72 hours or more unless:
The initial risk assessment that was completed on placement should be taken into account.
If the absence is considered to fall within the definition of missing, the carer or a children's social care professional must inform the Police as soon as possible.
If an assessment of risk of sexual or criminal exploitation has been made under the Derby and Derbyshire Safeguarding Children Partnership Procedures, Children at Risk of Exploitation (CRE) Procedure, the Police should be informed and also made aware of the assessed level of risk.
Any information subsequently obtained on the location of the young person, or information subsequently obtained that affects the risk assessment, should be reported to the Police without delay.
The carer, wherever possible, should complete the Initial Reporting Form, including the risk assessment section, prior to Police attendance.
If a child or young person regularly goes missing, those details of the form that are unlikely to change often (name, address, date of birth, description, relatives, friends, care order details) should be completed in advance and saved electronically as a template to reduce the bureaucracy each time the young person goes missing.
The Police will require:
A copy of this documentation should also be provided to the social worker to retain on the case-file.
The Police officer attending to take the report will take the following action:
The Police will investigate all cases falling within the definition of missing in accordance with the Police Missing Persons policy and National Guidance.
Carers will be expected to help the Police in finding the young person and to work cooperatively with the Police during any enquiry.
Even after reporting a person missing, carers should recognise that they are responsible for young people in their care at all times and this responsibility is not absolved when they have reported a young person missing to the Police.
The Police have responsibility for considering whether to inform the media regarding missing Looked After Children and young people to assist in locating that individual and warning the public if that individual poses a significant threat. However decisions to publicise a missing young person in care will only be taken after discussions have taken place between the Police and a senior representative (head of service level) of the local authority to agree a media strategy.
The social worker should consult relevant family members.
Any decision to publicise must be authorised by a member of the Senior Management Team and the approval of a senior representative of local authority children’s services must be sought.
Where agreement over publicity cannot be reached between the Police and local authority, the ultimate decision on publicity is that of the Police. However, the Police must have cogent reasons to publicise against the wishes of the local authority and these reasons must be recorded.
Wherever possible, there should be an appropriate time-scale to enable those with parental responsibility to be informed and forewarned so that the first they hear of the young person being missing is not through the media presentation.
Unless it is absolutely necessary, the young person will not be identified as a young person in care.
Any actions taken to recover the child and return them to the home must focus on promoting the child's welfare and must take account of their care or legal status, age, understanding and level of risk posed to the child or others. If children are found but refuse to return to the home, staff must consult the manager (who should consult the child's social worker) or, in an emergency/where the child or others are seriously at risk, call the Police. The use of physical interventions, such as restraint should not be used unless there is an immediate risk of significant harm, serious damage to property, as a last resort and if staff are confident that such interventions will work/de-escalate the situation and make the child safe; if this outcome is not likely, they should withdraw and immediately consult their manager or the Police.
If the young person returns or is located, all individuals who have previously been notified of the absence should be advised of the young person’s return without delay. The local authority is responsible for recovering and returning the child or young person to their home or placement after they have been located (for example arranging for them to be collected from the Police Station).
If there are thought to be specific issues of safety or public order difficulties involved in recovering and returning the young person then co-ordinated action should be agreed with the Police.
If the Police locate the young person, they should not leave the young person at a location where they are likely to be exposed to the risk of harm or where they are likely to go missing again prior to the parent, carer or local authority being able to make arrangements to recover the young person.
If the Police are considering leaving a young person at an address to be collected by the local authority, the officer must contact the relevant social worker or Out of Hours Service to ensure that any risk factors known to the local authority are shared and taken into account.
On occasions the Police may need to consider returning the young person direct to their home or placement, or consider taking the young person to a local Police Station after confirming a collection time with the carer or local authority.
Young people should not be returned to the place they ran away from until their safety is evaluated if a child or young person refuses to return home or to their placement.
If there is concern that the young person is at risk of significant harm:
Where the young person is NOT at risk of significant harm:
As soon as the young person is located, consideration should be given to whether they need medical attention. If required, a medical examination should be arranged once appropriate permissions have been obtained; this assessment should be recorded and placed on the young person’s case file.
If there is any suggestion that the young person has been the victim or perpetrator of crime, consideration must be given to the securing of evidence including forensic examination.
Where an allegation of physical or sexual abuse is made or becomes evident, the Safeguarding Children Board Procedures must be implemented and contact made immediately with the Police Safeguarding Unit (SGU) and the Children's Social Care's Safeguarding.
Having established the child is absent, missing or absconded, an assessment should be carried out to determine the level of risk that is posed to the child i.e. if the risk is 'Low', 'Medium' or 'High' Risk.
| Note: Missing children/young people will be classified by the Police as either ‘Missing’ or ‘Absent’ after a risk assessment has been carried out by Police call handlers-please be aware that this does not mean that local procedures on notifications are in anyway altered. Please remember, in order to promote the safety of the absent/missing person, you are required to support the Police call handlers by offering them all the information that you have available; for more detail see: Interim Guidance on the Management, Recording and Investigation of Missing Persons (2013). |
This assessment and any re-assessment must be recorded.
The first assessment must be conducted once it is established the child is absent or missing, then as per tables below.When a member of children’s home staff or a foster carer realise that a child is missing from their care they should consider which definition the absence falls within using all the relevant information and current risk assessments that they have available.
Children's social care professionals (including residential staff or foster carers) must keep the young person's absence under continuous review in case the level of risk to the young person changes.
Support and advice in making this decision will be available from the children’s social care department responsible for the child and from the responsible out-of-hours service.
If the absence is considered to fall with the definition of missing, residential staff, foster carers and IFA placements must without delay inform:
If the absence is not considered to fall within the definition of missing, staff and carers should review the consideration regularly and in any case, if the period of absence continues for six hours, further consideration should be given as to whether the absence should fall within this protocol.
Six hours should be regarded as the maximum period before reconsideration and in many cases, a shorter period would be more appropriate, except during the night, when a review should be conducted and recorded at 2300 hours and then again at 0800 hours the following morning. local authority staff are able to seek advice from Police colleagues at any point if this is helpful to the assessment of risk.
Any case of an absent child which causes significant concern, or where circumstances give rise to suspicion of harm, should be brought to the attention of the accountable manager from the authority responsible for the child’s care and the duty inspector for the Police area from which the child is missing as soon as possible.
Independent care providers must notify the local authority of all new cross boundary placements and also when placements end. This is to ensure that the local authority and other agencies are aware of all LAC children placed in Derbyshire and Derby and can offer the appropriate support if there are risks of missing episodes.
Where there is a difference of opinion between children's social care staff and the Police over the appropriate category of absence, the Police will make the final decision about the Police response. However the Police officer/member of Police staff should refer all such cases of dispute to the Duty Inspector.
Where a professional within children's social care is not satisfied with the decision of the Duty Inspector, they should refer the matter to the relevant Children’s Social Care Manager as soon as possible.
| Low Level Concern | |
For Guidance on Assessing Risks see Appendix 1: Assessing Levels of Concern Guidance, if the Child is assessed as Low Risk: Notifications: There is no requirement to notify the Police, social worker or parents. Review of Risks: every 2 hours or as circumstances changes; if the child is absent/missing, in this category, for a total of 6 hours s/he automatically becomes Medium Risk |
| Medium Level Concern | |
For Guidance on Assessing Risks see Appendix 1: Assessing Levels of Concern Guidance, if the Child is assessed as Medium Risk: Notifications: The Police, social worker and parents may be consulted or verbally notified, for information, but there is no requirement to notify them formally. Review of Risks: Every 2 hours or as circumstances change. If a missing child remains in the Medium Category for a total of 6 hours s/he automatically falls into High Level Category. |
| High Level Concern | |
For Guidance on assessing Risks see Appendix 1: Assessing Levels of Concern Guidance. Notifications: If there is a High Level of Concern:
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When notifying/informing the Police (in the area where they have become away from their placement without permission/absent e.g. if on an activity away from the home), social worker or others e.g. Youth Offending Worker/Team, it is vital to provide information about the circumstances and risk factors that led to the notification; but it is also important to discuss possible strategies for finding and recovering the child safely. Agreement should also be reached about others who may need to know the child is Absent or Missing e.g. the child's parents.
It is advisable that a Police 'Misper' form should be completed for all children, at the point of admission. The child's Placement Plan should be reviewed regularly and after any absence, but the person taking the report by the Police will require the following information:
The Police, social worker and others notified must then be updated as circumstances change and when the child returns.
Staff must record the incident on the following and update these records as circumstances change or decisions/actions taken:
24 hours or on the first working day after the child has been reported missing/away from their placement without permission/absent, the Line Manager for the home must be notified.
Also, the home should consult/update the Police and social worker/YOT Worker every day for the first 7 days, or as new information is available, to review the Strategies that can be adopted to find/return the child.
After 72 hours, the Police will notify the UK Missing Persons Bureau.
Any young person missing for five days (or fewer depending on the risk assessment) will be subject to a joint meeting that will include, as a minimum, representatives from children’s services and the Police, to discuss further actions that may be taken to recover the young person. The respective Local Policing Unit Commander or his or her nominee will represent the Police at this meeting. The Service Director (Safeguarding and Disability Services) and Director of Children's Services will also be informed.
If the child is still absent after 7 days, the Designated Manager (Absence) and child's Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) must be notified/consulted to decide what actions to take e.g.:
Whenever a young person is missing for 28 days, or if considered necessary, beforehand, a multi-agency Strategy Meeting should be held, attended by senior Children's Services’ managers and senior Police representatives, together with other appropriate staff from both agencies. At this meeting these senior officers should elicit a clear statement of the actions being taken in respect of the absence and should be satisfied that everything possible is being undertaken.
Whilst the young person remains missing, their case should remain open on the Children's Services database and should be reviewed at three-monthly intervals by an officer at Service Director level to ensure that actions are being taken to recover the young person. The Service Director will communicate the outcome of this review to the respective Area Chief Inspector (Operations). They will agree any future joint action.
All Police missing person’s files will remain live until the person is traced or until the Area Chief Inspector (Operations) in consultation with the respective Service Director, is satisfied that all lines of enquiry have been exhausted. They will then forward the file to their appropriate line managers who will make the final decision as to whether to file or otherwise.
Where the decision to file has been made, the Operations Intelligence Bureau (OIB) will be responsible for bringing forward the file on persons who remain missing for review by the appropriate senior managers, 12 months after the file date.
If a child's whereabouts become known, staff should decide to consult the social worker/YOT Worker and Police about the most appropriate way to return the child to the home or care.
Any actions taken should preferably be with the co-operation or by negotiation with the child.
The appropriate Children’s Services Manager in the local authority in consultation with social workers, parents and Police as appropriate, should start contingency planning for when the young person is found. Consideration must be given to arrangements which need to be made to escort the young person and support them once they have been found and to who is the most appropriate person to conduct the return interview.
Also see Section 6.10, Recovering the Child.On the young person/ child’s return, carers must make clear that to the young person that they are relieved to see them, they should be welcomed back and must have the opportunity to talk about the reasons for leaving and ensure that the young person is safe and well. Their general condition should be assessed immediately and. if appropriate, medical attention should be arranged. Food and drink may also be a priority.
The safety and welfare of the young person also should be ensured especially if it appears that they have run away because of bullying or harassment. Information about the return should be recorded in full by the person undertaking the return procedure and recorded on their electronic file.
If criminal offences have been committed then these should be brought to the attention of the Police immediately in order for them to be investigated. Parents, Police, social workers and all others informed of the absence should be advised of the young person's return without delay.
When a young person who has been reported as missing from care is located, the Police must conduct a safe and well check with the young person unless:
The purpose safe and well check is to ascertain:
Any information obtained during the safe and well check that may affect any future risk assessment or may assist in finding the young person should they go absent again, should be exchanged between the Police, the local authority and other agencies involved with the young person.
At the request of the child or where there are concerns about a child who frequently becomes away from their placement without permission/absent or missing, the home's manager should consider arranging a meeting between the child and the placing authority to consider the reasons for the child going missing. If the social worker is unable to see the child, an independent professional or the manager/supervisor of the home may meet the child on the social worker's behalf.
Voluntary Return:
The Police should be informed immediately following the return of a young person who has been reported missing. If all appears well and there is no evidence of harm the Police will make a return phone call to a children’s home to ensure that the notification of return is genuine. The Police will not routinely visit children's homes to verify a young person's return although, depending upon the circumstances, may decide to carry out a 'Safe and Well' check, to check for any indications that the child has suffered harm; where and with whom they have been; and to give them an opportunity to disclose any offending by, or against, them. However, where the child goes missing frequently, the Police are unlikely to see them every time they return. However, a reasonable decision will be taken with regard to the frequency of such checks. If the child or young person returns at an unsociable hour the verification of the return can be delayed until a mutually agreed more sociable time.
The young person should be told that they will be given the chance to talk to someone independent of the home or the foster home, about their absence. Or if they wish, it could be another person with whom they have a rapport.
An Independent Return Interview should be carried out by an independent professional (e.g. a social worker, advocate, teacher, health professional or Police officer, who does not usually work with the child and is trained to carry out these interviews). Children sometimes need to build up trust with a person before they will discuss in depth the reasons why they ran away.
The person conducting the interview should usually be independent of the child’s placement and of the home or responsible local authority with no line management links. An exception maybe where a child has a strong relationship with a carer or social worker and has expressed a preference to talk to them, rather than an independent person, about the reasons they went missing. In some circumstances the independent person could be a Police officer.
For Derbyshire and Derby City In all cases a member of the targeted youth support/Multi Agency teams from the relevant locality or allocated Homes Advocates will conduct a return interview within 72 hours of the child/young person returning to their home.
The allocated social worker (or a member of their team) must visit and see the young person within 24 hours of his or her return.
The responsible local authority should ensure the Independent Return Interview takes place, working closely with the host authority where appropriate. Contact should be made with the child within 72 hours of them being located or returning from absence, to arrange an Independent Return Interview in a neutral place where they feel safe.
Where a Looked After Child has run away they should have the opportunity to talk, before they return to their placement, to a person who is independent of their placement about the reasons they went missing. The child should be offered the option of speaking to an independent representative or advocate.
If the young person persistently goes missing from care, the arrangements in relation to independent interviews should be made explicit in the on-going risk assessment document associated with that person.
In such cases, more than one missing incident is likely to be discussed at each independent interview. Patterns of missing episodes should be discussed and any areas of concern should be identified and the concerns raised. IRO’s should be informed following the return interview.
Where it has been identified that the missing child is subject to a protection plan is deemed to be a Child in Need or Looked After the relevant social worker must ensure that they see the child within 24 hours of their return. If the child is returned during a weekend period the social worker must endeavour to see the child during the first 24 hours of the working week.
Consideration should be given to whether a strategy meeting is required if, for example, a pattern of running away is developing. Any of the partner agencies of this protocol can request a strategy meeting following consultation with their first line manager, if it appears that there is significant risk to a young person or there are child protection concerns.
Throughout the processes outlined in this chapter, carers and social workers must keep a full record of all actions taken and messages received and given. Police will likewise keep a record on the appropriate missing person report. All incidents reported to the Police as missing will be recorded on the CCM recording system.
Alongside the care plan, a Placement plan should be completed between the responsible local authority and the provider of the child’s placement. The expectations as to how they will meet the child’s needs should be set out in the plan, which must describe how the provider will maintain the child’s positive routines as part of their commitment to enable the child to experience a constructive placement, supporting them to achieve their potential. It should include details about:
For details about recording the initial incident (when the child is reported as absent/missing) see Section 7.2, Information Sharing/Recording
Throughout, staff must update the following records:When the child returns, all those notified of the absence must be informed.
If the child was involved in sexual exploitation, the Regulatory Authority must be notified.
If there is a pattern of persistent incidents or the circumstances gave rise for serious concern, the home's manager must notify the child's Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO).
When a child who has been missing has been located, the Children’s Homes Manager with the social worker and line manager should decide in consultation with the Independent Reviewing Officer, carers and the young person whether they should convene an early statutory review of the young person’s care plan.
The statutory review will provide an opportunity to check that the care plan has been appropriately amended to address the reasons why the young person was absent and includes a strategy to prevent reoccurrences.
The Police and other relevant agencies should be given an opportunity to contribute to the review, in particular to indicate whether they have any concerns about the quality of care provided to the young person and whether this could have influenced the young person's decision to run away.
If a child is, or has been, persistently absent without permission from the Home and/or the Manager considers that the child is at risk of harm, the Manager will ask the placing authority to review the child’s Care Plan. The Manager will consult the child’s social worker/YOT Worker and Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) with a view to reviewing the Care Plan.
If it is decided not to review the Care Plan, the home's manager should still review the Placement Plan.
It is acknowledged that young persons will be placed in Derbyshire and Derby City by external Local Authorities. Conversely, it is also understood that young people normally domicile in Derbyshire and Derby will be placed externally. There will be a requirement to record instances of the young person’s being missing and this protocol should be utilised during those occurrences.
There is an expectation that the local Police and the Derbyshire or Derby allocated social worker will be informed. Part of the commissioning arrangements should include obtaining information about the independent children’s home, foster carer or IFA’s missing children’s procedures. If it seems that the young person is running back to their home authority, close liaison will be needed between the two Police forces.
The procedures regarding risk management and planning/strategy meetings should apply regardless of where a young person is placed.This protocol applies to this group of young people. It is the responsibility of the placing local authority to ensure that the providers they commission implement this protocol. This protocol will be distributed to all independent children’s homes within Derbyshire and Derby City.
The Police have responsibility for advising the media regarding children missing from local authority care; however decisions to publicise will always be made in consultation with children’s social care who will consult the parents and/or carers.
If a child or young person goes absent outside the local authority area they reside in, the carer in charge of the external activity or holiday will:
The Police for the area where the young person went missing and the Police for the area where the young person normally resides will decide which Police force and division will take responsibility for managing the investigation. This will normally be the Police force and division that covers the area where the majority of enquiries are likely to be conducted. The Police will notify the relevant Social Care Team Manager of their decision.
The Social Work Manager or Out of Hours worker will be responsible for ensuring the general procedures in relation to a missing child or young person are followed.
The Homes Manager or foster carer and the person in charge of the external activity or holiday will make a joint decision within 24 hours of the absence whether the rest of the party should return home.
If they do return home, on-going communication must be maintained between the social worker and the Police force responsible for managing the missing person enquiry.
There is additional guidance in Section 2: Other Factors that Should be Considered below.
| HIGH RISK A Child is automatically High Risk in the following circumstances |
OTHER RISK FACTORS These are risks/indicators that should be considered when assessing other Children, who do not automatically fall into the High Risk Category |
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The following should be considered alongside Section 1: Indicators/Categories of Risk:
| Age and level of understanding | Age and level of understanding. Age is a factor, but not alone. Also consider level of understanding, ability to make informed decisions, the child's ability to operate in urban or rural environments, social and life skills, disability etc. The more able the child is, the less concern staff should have. |
| Number of Absences | Consider the number of times the child has absented him/herself and from what situations. For example, children who have absented themselves from similar accommodations and returned safely may be of less concern than those who are not known to staff or who do not normally absent themselves. |
| Behaviour whilst absent | Consider what the child does or is suspected to get involved in whilst absent on previous occasions. Also consider how recent such problems have been. Higher levels of concern should be attributed to those who are known, recently, to have placed themselves or others at risk of significant harm. The factors that may result in higher levels of concern are that the child has previously:
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| Circumstances on the day | The following are examples of circumstances, which may be considered in deciding the level of concern on the day. The fact that they apply to a child does not automatically mean there is a high level of concern; the decision rests with the manager having considered all the circumstances.
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