Children Missing from Care, Home and Education

Identifying and safeguarding children go missing from care, home and education is a central issue for the Safeguarding Children Partnership. Current research findings estimate that 25 per cent of children who go missing and whereabouts cannot be established are likely to suffer significant harm. There are specific concerns about the links between children running away and the risks of exploitation. Many children in care (CiC) missing from their placements are vulnerable to exploitation.

This chapter is based on guidance issued under Section 7 of the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970 which requires local authorities in exercising their social services functions, to act under the general guidance of the Secretary of State. Local authorities must comply with this guidance when exercising these functions, unless local circumstances indicate exceptional reasons that justify a variation.

This guidance complements Working Together to Safeguard Children and related statutory guidance and the Children Act 1989 guidance and regulation volumes in respect of Care planning and review.

Acknowledgement: This guidance has taken account of the DfE Statutory Guidance on 'Children who run away or go missing from home or care', January 2014, as well as the College of Policing Authorised Professional Practice Guidance.

Based on the 'Statutory guidance on children who run away or go missing from home or care' (DfE 2014) and the Police Authorised Professional Practice (APP) the definitions which should be used when working with children, young people and their families are set out as follows:

• Child: anyone who has not yet reached their 18th birthday;
• Missing child: a child reported as missing to the police by their family or carers and whereabouts cannot be established;
• Child in Care (CiC): a child who is looked after by a local authority by reason of a care order, or being accommodated under section 20 of the Children Act 1989;
• Responsible local authority (Home LA): the local authority that is responsible for a looked after child's care and care planning;
• Host local authority: the local authority in which a child in careis placed when placed out of the responsible local authority's area;
• Care leaver: an eligible, relevant or former relevant child as defined by the Children Act 1989;
• 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 child in care 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;
• Children Missing Education (CME) are defined as:
  • Statutory school age children
    • Who are not registered on a school roll nor at an educational base and are not being home educated; or
    • Who are not receiving a suitable home education; or
    • Are not receiving suitable education otherwise than at school.
• Children Missing Family Whereabouts unknown:
  • Children who are missing (family whereabouts unknown) are usually children who are registered on a school roll / alternative provision. This might be a child who is not at their last known address and either:
    • Has not taken up an allocated school place as expected; or
    • Has 10 or more days of continuous absence from school without explanation; or
    • contacts, including a drive by and attempted home visit by the EHE team, suggests the family are no longer at the address; or
    • Left school suddenly and the destination is unknown;
    • Extensive phone communication would suggest the family are out of the country without informing the school (International dial tone/sudden change of number/number being diverted to another family member or family friend).
• Children Missing in Education:
• Children missing in education are those on roll at a school, or accessing EHE or EHCP EOTAS / Exceptional Provision package, or accessing 6th day provision that is not the authorities Alternative Provison, or accessing S19 provision, who:
  • Are regularly absent from school (persistently);
  • Have missed 10 school days or more without permission / unauthorised absence*;
  • Are known to be EHE (satisfactory from last contact) but upon next contact is not accessing education;
  • Have an EHCP EOTAS or Exceptional Provision package but are not accessing it;
  • Have 6th day provision from a provider but are not accessing it;
  • Have a S19 education placement arranged but are not accessing this.
• Missing Children
  • Children missing are those not attending school /alternative provision/ EHE / EHCP EOTAS or EHCP Exceptional Provision / 6th day provision that is not alternative provison / S19 provision, because:
    • They have run away; and / or
    • Have gone missing from home; or
    • Have gone missing from care (e.g. residential or foster placement)
• For the local Police Force the Authorised Professional Practice (APP) Guidance defines missing as:  Anyone whose whereabouts cannot be established will be considered as missing until located, and their well-being or otherwise confirmed;
• Care leavers cover young people from aged 16-24;

The Constabulary will respond to children and young people going missing or being absent based on on-going risk assessments in line with current APP guidance. The police will prioritise all incidents of missing children as very low risk, low risk, medium or high risk.

Risk Assessment and Response

• Children Missing Education (CME) are defined as:
• Statutory school age children;
• Who are not registered on a school roll nor at an educational base and are not being home educated; or
• Who are not receiving a suitable home education; or
• Are not receiving suitable education otherwise than at school.
• Children Missing Family Whereabouts unknown:
• Children who are missing (family whereabouts unknown) are usually children who are registered on a school roll / alternative provision. This might be a child who is not at their last known address and either:
• Has not taken up an allocated school place as expected; or
• Has 10 or more days of continuous absence from school without explanation; or
• Contacts, including a drive by and attempted home visit by the EHE team, suggests the family are no longer at the address; or
• Left school suddenly and the destination is unknown;
• Extensive phone communication would suggest the family are out of the country without informing the school (International dial tone/sudden change of number/number being diverted to another family member or family friend).
• Children Missing in Education:
• Children missing in education are those on roll at a school, or accessing EHE or EHCP EOTAS / Exceptional Provision package, or accessing 6th day provision that is not the authorities Alternative Provison, or accessing S19 provision, who:
• Are regularly absent from school (persistently);
• Have missed 10 school days or more without permission / unauthorised absence*;
• Are known to be EHE (satisfactory from last contact) but upon next contact is not accessing education;
• Have an EHCP EOTAS or Exceptional Provision package but are not accessing it;
• Have 6th day provision from a provider but are not accessing it;
• Have a S19 education placement arranged but are not accessing this.
• Missing Children;
• Children missing are those not attending school /alternative provision/ EHE / EHCP EOTAS or EHCP Exceptional Provision / 6th day provision that is not alternative provison / S19 provision, because:
• They have run away; and / or
• Have gone missing from home; or
• Have gone missing from care (e.g. residential or foster placement).
• For the local Police Force the Authorised Professional Practice (APP) Guidance defines missing as: Anyone whose whereabouts cannot be established will be considered as missing until located, and their well-being or otherwise confirmed.

The police can use the powers under Section 46(1) of the Children Act 1989 to remove a child into police protection if there is a real and immediate risk of significant harm. Police Protection lasts up to 72 hours.

Section 17 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 provides police with powers to enter and search a premises only in certain circumstances, notably, with regard to this guidance, for the purposes of saving life and limb or to arrest without warrant a person who has committed an indictable offence or certain other listed offences under the section.

Section 24 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984  provides police the power of summary arrest for any offence subject to certain provisions notably, for the purposes of this guidance, under S.24(5)(d) to protect a child or other vulnerable person in question. A lawful arrest requires two elements:

1. A person’s involvement or suspected involvement or attempted involvement in the commission of a criminal offence;
   
   AND

2. Reasonable grounds for believing that the person’s arrest is necessary.

Should it be necessary to take the child into police protection, the child must be moved as soon as possible into local authority accommodation. The local authority should consider what type of accommodation is appropriate in each individual case. It is important that children are not placed in accommodation that leaves them vulnerable to exploitation or trafficking.

The Local Authority may apply to the Court for a Recovery Order under Section 50 of the Children Act 1989.  A Recovery Order can only be sought when the child is subject to an Interim or Full Care Order and it is clear that the child is in no immediate danger of significant harm. Children's Social Cares may need to obtain an Emergency Protection Order under Section 44 of the Children Act 1989, before expiration of the Police Protection.

Section 13 of the Children Act 2004 requires local authorities and other named statutory partners to make arrangements to ensure that their functions are discharged with a view to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. This includes planning to prevent children from being missing and to do everything possible to ensure their safe return when they are missing. Through their inspections of local authority children's services, Ofsted will include an assessment of measures with regard to missing children as part of their key judgement on the experiences and progress of children who need help and protection.

The Local Authority should name a senior children's service manager as responsible for monitoring policies and performance relating to children are missing from home or care. The responsible manager should look beyond this guidance to understand the risks and issues facing children missing from home or care and to review best practice in dealing with the issue.

The Local Authority must ensure that all incidents where children are missing are appropriately risk assessed and should record all incidents of children in care who are missing.

Even with strong systems and services that minimise the likelihood of children being reported missing, some children will still feel that they have to stay away from home, placement or safety. In all circumstances, Safeguarding Children Partnership Procedures should be followed. If there is concern that the child may be at risk of harm if returned home, the child should be referred to children's social care to assess their needs and make appropriate arrangements for their accommodation.

Children in care should have information about, and easy access to, help lines and support services including emergency accommodation. Support should also be made available to families to help them understand why the child has been reported missing and how they can support them on their return.

It is important that emergency accommodation can be accessed directly at any time of the day or night. Bed and breakfast (B&B) accommodation is not an appropriate place for any child or young person under the age of 18 and should only be used in exceptional circumstances.

Sharing information to locate a child in care, subject to a child protection plan or a child in need.

The local authority should consult with the police and education settings, including elective home education services regarding what action should be taken to share information about a missing child who is looked after, subject to a child protection plan or a child in need. This should include an assessment of whether to release information to the media. The local authority should also notify other local authorities according to degree of concern. Consideration should also be given to whether the child or their family has links to other areas in the United Kingdom.

On receipt of a notification from another local authority, a flag should be added to the electronic record system for children's social care and consideration should be given to notifying health and other relevant partners.

Data on looked after children who go missing or are away from placement without authorisation

The Department of Education Statutory guidance on children who run away or go missing from home or care (January 2014) states the following:

children in care who are missing, can be at increased risk of exploitation or of involvement in drugs, gangs, criminal activity or trafficking. Particular attention should be paid to repeat episodes. Data on these episodes should be analysed regularly in order to map problems and patterns. Regular reports on this data should be provided to council members and the Safeguarding Children Partnership.

Data for children missing from placement without authorisation should be reported to the Department for Education by the responsible authority (through their annual data returns on looked after children as part of the annual SSDA903 data collection).

Local authorities collect information about children missing from education and educational establishments and about children who access other local authority services, such as youth services and children who are looked after.

As the guidance says, early and effective sharing of information between professionals and local agencies is essential for the identification of patterns of risky behaviour. This may be used to identify areas of concern for an individual child, or to identify 'hotspots' of activity in a local area.

Local authorities should collect data on children reported missing from care including repeat episodes of missing from care, unauthorised absences from care placements, and other relevant data and should regularly analyse this in order to map problems and patterns. This should include identifying patterns of sexual and other exploitation.

Good practice suggests that the following data should be collected and analysed by a multi professional group:

• Demographics of all children who are missing, absent or away from placement without authorisation;
• Associates of the above;
• The legal status of the children;
• Episodes, and length of episode by child;
• Numbers and themes from safe and well checks;
• Numbers and themes from return interviews;
• Cross match data with local information about gangs, CSE lists, home educated and missing from education lists, including information about children who go missing for part of the school day;
• Consideration should be given to analysing where the child is found as this information could help identify links between missing children and criminal groups.
• Analyse data by establishment and geographical area.

Data about children who are missing from home, education or care should be included in regular reports to Council members, especially to the Lead Member for Children's Services and in regular reports by the local authority to the Safeguarding Children Partnership.

On 1 April 2013 regulations came into force requiring Ofsted to disclose details of the locations of children's homes to local police services to support the police in taking a strategic and operational approach to safeguarding children particularly in relation to sexual exploitation and trafficking.

It should be noted that disclosure of this information to police services does not happen automatically and police services will need to request to receive this information on an on-going basis.

This duty is in addition to the existing obligation for Ofsted to disclose this information to local authorities. A protocol published alongside the regulations sets out the responsibilities of the public authorities to use information about the location of children's homes only for the purposes for which it was disclosed; and to share it onward only where this is compatible with safeguarding children and promoting their welfare.

Department for Education: Joint protocol: children's homes - procedure for disclosing names and addresses (2013).

Healthcare professionals have a key role in identifying and reporting children who may be missing from care, home and school.  

• Missing children access a number of services provided by a range of health providers, for example:
• Minor Injuries Units;
• Accident and Emergency Departments;
• Genito-Urinary Medicine Clinics (GUM) / sexual health clinics;
• Community Sexual Health Services; and
• Pharmacy Services.

Health professionals should have an understanding of the vulnerabilities and risks associated with children that are missing. Staff working in health settings should be aware of their professional responsibilities and the responses undertaken by the multi-agency partnership. Risks include exploitation, trafficking, forced marriage and female genital mutilation. Radicalisation, also a risk factor for vulnerable children, is managed via the national 'Prevent' strategy.

All health providers should provide a comprehensive service for Children in Care (CiC). A Designated Nurse and Doctor for Children in Care are located in each Integrated Care Board (ICB). They are statutory appointments and are responsible for the commissioning and delivery of appropriate healthcare, assessments and services. Designated health professionals for CiC should share relevant information and intelligence relating to high risk individuals or emerging themes and patterns indicative of organised and targeted abuse, to the relevant local NHS safeguarding Children Forum (In Gloucestershire this is the Gloucestershire Strategic Health Group. They should also ensure that all health staff within their locality know how to identify, report and respond to a child who is missing from care.

When a 16 or 17 year old is reported as missing they are no less vulnerable than younger children and are equally at risk, particularly of exploitation or involvement with gangs.

When a 16 -17 year old presents as homeless, local authority children's services must assess their needs as for any other child. Where this assessment indicates that the child is in need and requires accommodation under Section 20 of the Children Act 1989, they will usually become a Child in Care.

The accommodation provided must be suitable, risk assessed and meet the full range of the child's needs. The sustainability of the placement must be considered. Children who are repeatedly reported as Missing may lead to a higher risk pf a placement breakdown and may be placed in supported accommodation, with the provision of specialist support. For example, a specialist service might be provided for those who have been exploited, or at risk of exploitation.

Local authorities should have regard to statutory guidance issued in April 2010 to children's services authorities and local housing authorities about their duties under Part 3 of the Children Act 1989 and Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 to secure or provide accommodation for homeless 16 and 17 year olds.

Some of the children who local authorities look after may be unaccompanied asylum seeking children or other migrant children. Some children in this group may have been trafficked into the UK and may remain under the influence of their traffickers even while they are looked after. Trafficked children are at high risk of going missing, with most going missing within one week of becoming looked after and many within 48 hours. Unaccompanied migrant or asylum seeking children, who go missing immediately after becoming looked after, should be treated as children who may be victims of trafficking. Children, who have been trafficked, may be exploited and the link to exploitation should be addressed in conjunction with Children from Abroad, including Victims of Modern Slavery, Trafficking and Exploitation and Child Sexual Exploitation.

The assessment of need to inform the care plan will be particularly critical in these circumstances and should be done immediately as the window for intervention is very narrow. The assessment must seek to establish:

• Relevant details about the child's background before they came to the UK;
• An understanding of the reasons why the child came to the UK; and
• An analysis of the child's vulnerability to remaining under the influence of traffickers.

In conducting this assessment it will be necessary for the local authority to work in close co-operation with the NCA Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Unit and immigration staff who will be familiar with patterns of trafficking into the UK. Immigration staff should be able to advice on whether information about the individual child suggests that they fit the profile of a potentially trafficked child.

Provision may need to be made for the child to be in a safe place before any assessment takes place and for the possibility that they may not be able to disclose full information about their circumstances immediately. The location of the child should not be divulged to any enquirers until their identity and relationship with the child has been established, if necessary with the help of police and immigration services. In these situations the roles and responsibilities of care providers must be fully understood and recorded in the placement plan. Proportionate safety measures that keep the child safe and take into account their best interests should also be put in place to safeguard the child from going missing from care or from being re-trafficked.

It will be essential that the local authority continues to share information with the police and immigration staff, concerning potential crimes against the child, the risk to other children, or other relevant immigration matters.

Safeguarding Children Who May Have Been Trafficked: Practice Guidance (2011) contains practical guidance for agencies which are likely to encounter, or have referred to them, children and young people who may have been trafficked. Where it is suspected that a child has been trafficked, they should be referred by the local authority into the UK's victim identification framework, the National Referral Mechanism (NRM).

There are a number of voluntary agencies who provide guidance and advice including:

• Unseen UK;
• ECPAT - Every Child Protected Against Trafficking;
• Barnardos Independent Trafficking Guardian.

Grooming is when someone builds an emotional connection with a child to gain their trust for the purposes of abuse or exploitation. Children and young people can be groomed online or in the real world, by a stranger or by someone they know - for example a family member, friend or professional. Groomers may be male or female. They could be any age. Many children and young people don't understand that they have been groomed, or that what has happened is abuse.

Children are groomed for the purpose of abuse and exploitation, including organised crime or extremist activity. During any missing episode there is an opportunity to be groomed or being groomed to repeatedly be missing

Children can suffer harm when exposed to extremist ideology. This harm can range from a child adopting or complying with extreme views which limit their social interaction and full engagement with their education, to children being groomed for involvement in violent attacks.

Children can by exposed to harmful, extremist ideology in the immediate or extended family, or relatives/family friends who live outside the family home but have influence over the child's life. Older children will find radical misinformation, which they believe and act upon over the internet or through the influence of their peer network – in this instance their parents might not know about this or feel powerless to stop their child's radicalisation.

Going missing is a risk factor in relation to radicalisation:

• A child may go missing because they have already been radicalised;
• A child's risk of being radicalised might increase because they are missing and are spending time with people who may seek to involve them in radical/extreme activities. The risk is heightened whilst they are missing, because the protective factors of family or care are not available to them.

Professionals should always assess whether a child who has gone missing is at risk of radicalisation.

The exploitation of children involves a vulnerable child, a conductive situation and a perpetrator.  The perpetrator will groom and try to meet the child’s unmet needs i.e. food, accommodation, drugs/alcohol or companionship/love or care.  As a result the child will perform and potentially encourage others into acts of a criminal or sexual nature.  Violence, coercion and intimidation are also common.

Children will often lack the capacity, freedom or choice to consent but will be led to believe they have chosen to be a victim - or will not perceive themselves as a victim.

From the age of 16 young people in care are being prepared for adult hood, however, it is important to note that local authorities have very similar duties and responsibilities towards 16 and 17 year old children in care as they do to younger children in care and for the purposes of this guidance, the response to a missing child preparing for adult hood age 16 and 17 year old should be the same.

Local authorities continue to have a range of responsibilities towards children preparing for adult hood until the young person's 21st and in some instances their 25th birthday. It is good practice to follow the guidance set out below during this period.

Children preparing for adult hood are particularly vulnerable to exploitation and may go missing from their home or accommodation. Local authorities must ensure that children or young adults live in "suitable accommodation" as defined in Section 23B (10) of the Children Act 1989 and Regulations 9(2) of the Care Leavers Regulations, The Care Leavers (England) Regulations 2010.

In particular children should feel safe in their accommodation and the areas where it is located. Local authorities should ensure that pathway plans set out where a child may be vulnerable to exploitation, trafficking or going missing, and put in place support services to minimise this risk.

When a child is placed out of their local authority area, the responsible authority must make sure that the child has access to the services they need in advance of placement. Notification of the placement must be made to the host authority and other specified services. 

If children placed out of their local authority run away, this protocol should be followed, in addition to complying with other processes that are specified in the policy of the host local authority. It is possible that the child will return to the area of the responsible authority so it is essential that liaison between the police and professionals in both authorities is well managed and coordinated. A notification process for missing/ absent episodes should be agreed between responsible and host local authorities as a part of the care plan and the placement plan.

Sometimes a Child in Care may be away from their placement without authorisation. While they are not missing, they may still be placing themselves at risk (e.g. they may be at the house of friends where there are concerns about risks of exploitation). The carer or social worker should take reasonable steps to ascertain the wellbeing of the child including, when appropriate, visiting the location. However, if there is a concern the child may be at significant risk of harm to themselves or to others then appropriate child protection procedures should be followed

Local authorities have a duty to place a Child in Care in the most appropriate placement to safeguard the child and minimise the risk of the child being reported missing. The care plan and the placement plan should include details of the arrangements that will need to be in place to keep the child safe and minimise the risk of the child going missing from their placement.

Remember:

• The Care Plan – should include strategies to avoid unauthorised absences and/or a child being missing. It should also include strategies to reduce the duration and risks associated if the child is missing;
• The Placement Plan – should include strategies for preventing the child from taking unauthorised absences/being reported missing;
• A pre-incident risk assessment should be completed for all children for whom there is concern that they may be at risk of being reported missing. Distance from home, family and friends should be considered as a risk factor;
• Provide the child with advice about an independent advocate and take the child's views into account;
• Statutory reviews should consider any absences and revise strategies to prevent repeat absences and/or missing incidents and the care plan should be revised accordingly.

Where a child already has an established pattern of repeated missing episodes, the Care Plan should include a strategy to keep the child safe and minimising the likelihood of the child being reported missing in the future. This should be discussed and agreed as far as possible with the child and with the child's carers and should include detailed information about the responsibilities of all services, the child's parents and other adults involved in the family network.

Independent Reviewing Officers (IROs) should be informed about missing/ absent episodes and they should address these in statutory reviews. The pre incident risk assessment should be updated after missing incident and should be regularly reviewed.

Designated health professionals for CiC should be informed of children missing from care who are deemed to be 'high risk'. They should be included in any multi-agency strategy meetings or activity to manage the child's retrieval and any subsequent health needs.

Designated education professionals should be informed and included in the review process.

Whenever the whereabouts of a Child in Care are not known, the foster carer or the manager on duty in the placement is responsible for carrying out reasonable ongoing enquiries in an attempt to secure the safe return of the child. For example, if a child was supposed to have returned home from school but has not arrived within the normal journey time, checks could include finding out if there are transport delays, phone calls to the child, phone calls to the school to see if the child has been delayed etc. If these initial checks do not succeed in locating the child or there are still concerns that, despite contact being made with the child there is a real and immediate risk, the individuals and agencies listed below should be informed.

It is clearly important that a deadline is set at the outset of these initial checks so that they don't continue beyond a reasonable timeframe. What timeframe is reasonable should be based on an assessment of the risks relating to the individual child. In some cases, there might be particular reasons to be worried for the child's safety immediately and the individuals' agencies detailed below should be contacted straight away – this in conjunction with on-going attempts to contact the child and find out why they aren't where they are supposed to be.

The individuals and agencies who should be contacted when a child is missing:

• The parents and any other person with parental responsibility, unless it is not reasonably practicable or to do so, or would be inconsistent with the child's welfare;
• The authority responsible for the child's placement;
• The child’s Education Setting, including the Elective Home Education Service if the child is registered as Electively Home Educated (EHE);
• Where the child is a Child in Care the virtual school;
• The local police;
• The Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO).
• Where appropriate the relevant health trusts, see local arrangements.

The local Children Social Care  Children in Care Information Sharing Form should be used when reporting the child missing to the police. As a minimum requirement, all reports should include the following information: 

• The child's name/s; date of birth; status; responsible authority;
• Where and when they went missing;
• Who, if anyone, they went missing with;
• What was the child wearing plus any belongings such as bags, phone etc.;
• Description and recent photo;
• Medical history, if relevant;
• Time and location last seen;
• Circumstances or events around going missing;
• Details of family, friends and associates;
• Mobile phone and social media activity;
• Updated risk assessment.

The carer/s should take all reasonable steps, which any parent would take, to secure the safe and speedy return of the child based on their own knowledge of the child and the information in the child's placement plan. If there is a suspected real and immediate risk of harm to the child the carer/s should liaise immediately with the police.

Following initial discussions between the allocated children's social care worker and the police, they should agree an immediate strategy for locating the child and an action plan. This to include a range of actions to locate and ensure the safe return of the child, including:

• Arrangements for attempts to be made to contact the child on a daily basis by, for example, calling their mobile phone or the phones of friends or relatives that they may be with;
• The Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) should also try and contact the child;
• Visiting their parents' address/es and of any friends or relatives with whom they may be staying.

Within 3 days, following local arrangements a missing from care meeting/ telephone discussion between relevant parties should take place and include the police, the child's social worker and the provider and designated teacher and virtual school. The action plan and risk assessment should be reviewed and updated.

• Missing from care meetings/discussions should be held at least monthly to update the action plan and share information;
• The Children’s Social Care Assistant Director should be notified whereupon they will notify the Lead Member and Corporate Parenting Board in line with local arrangements and statutory guidance;
• Any publicity will be led by the Police, the use of Child Abduction Warning Notice (CAWN) etc. will be agreed at either the:
  • Missing from care meeting;
  • Strategy meeting; or
  • Professionals meeting.
• During the investigation to find the missing child, regular liaison and communication should take place between the police, the responsible local authority children's social care services and the host authority (if an out of area placement) and any other agencies involved. Recovery Orders may be used where the child is a child in care and where appropriate'
• The authority responsible for the child should ensure that plans are in place to respond promptly once the child is found and for determining if the placement remains appropriate.

When the child has been located, care staff/ foster carers should promptly inform the child's social worker and the independent reviewing officer and all agencies informed that the child was missing as set out in 4.5 that the child has returned. Arrangements should be made for Safe and Well checks and Independent Return Review interviews:

Safe and well checks are carried out by the police as soon as possible after the child has returned. Their purpose is 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.

Where a child goes missing frequently, it may not be practicable for the police to see them every time they return. In these cases a reasonable decision should be taken in agreement between the police and the child's parent or carer with regard to the frequency of such checks bearing in mind the established link between frequent missing episodes and serious harm, which could include gang involvement, forced marriage, maltreatment or abuse at home, bullying or exploitation. The assessment of whether a child might be reported missing again should be based on information about:

• Their individual circumstances;
• Family circumstances and background history;
• Their motivation for running away;
• Their potential destinations and associates;
• Their recent pattern of absences;
• The circumstances in which the child was found or returned; and
• Their individual characteristics and risk factors such as whether a child has learning difficulties, mental health issues, depression and other vulnerabilities.

The independent return review is an in-depth interview and should be carried out by an independent professional (e.g. a social worker, teacher, health professional or police officer, not involved in caring for the child and who is trained to carry out these interviews and is able). The child should be seen on their own unless they specifically request to have someone with them. The child should be offered the option of speaking to an independent representative or advocate. The IRO should be informed.

The responsible local authority should ensure the return review interview takes place, working closely with the host authority where appropriate. The independent return interview should be offered and provided within 72 hours of the child being located or returning from missing, it should preferably take place in a neutral place where they feel safe. Delays in return interviews may mean a loss of important information or evidence.

The interview and actions that follow from it should:

• Identify and manage the impact of any harm the child has suffered – including harm that might not have already been disclosed or discovered as part of the 'Safe and Well check'– either before they ran away or whilst missing;
• Understand and try to address the reasons why the child had been reported missing;
• Help the child feel 'safe' / understand that they have options, to prevent repeat instances of them being reported missing;
• Understand what the child would like to see happen next whether short term and/or long term;
• Gather the parents' or carers' views of the circumstances, if appropriate;
• Provide the child with information on how to stay safe if they choose to be reported missing again, including helpline numbers.

It is especially important that the independent Return Review interview and a strategy discussion takes place when a child:

• Has been reported missing on 3 or more occasions, or missing for over 48 hours;
• Has been hurt or harmed while they have been missing;
• Is at known or suspected risk of exploitation or trafficking;
• Is at known or suspected risk of involvement in criminal activity or drugs;
• Has contact with persons posing risk to children; and/or
• Has been engaged (or is believed to have engaged) in criminal activities during the period of being missing.

The local authority children's social care services, police and other agencies involved with the child should work together to assess the child and:

• To build up a comprehensive picture of why the child went missing;
• What happened while they were missing;
• Who they were missing with and where they were found; and,
• What support they require upon returning home;
• Whether a statutory review of the care plan is required.

Where children refuse to engage with the interviewer, parents and/or carers should be offered the opportunity to provide any relevant information and intelligence they may be aware of. This should help to prevent further instances of the child being reported missing and identify early the support needed for them.

If a child is continually reported missing actions following earlier incidents need reviewing and alternative strategies should be considered.

To reduce repeat episodes of missing and improve the longer-term safety of children and young people, the agencies should provide:

• Better access and timely independent return interviews, particularly for the most vulnerable;
• Safety planning with the child for their missing;
• Better access to support whilst the child is missing;
• The review of the placement suitability.

Children's homes staff and foster carers should be trained and supported to offer a consistent approach to the care of children, including being proactive about strategies to prevent children from being reported missing; and to understand the procedures that must be followed if a child goes missing.

The competence and support needs of staff in children's homes and foster cares in responding to missing from care issues should be considered as part of their regular appraisal and supervision and forms part of the organisations Section 11 (of the Children Act 2004) duties.

The Children's Home Regulations 2001 (as amended) requires all children's homes to have a missing child policy. They also require that before implementing, or making substantive changes to an existing policy, children's homes shall consult with relevant partners and take into consideration any relevant local authority or police protocols on missing children. Finally, where a child is, or has been, persistently missing from the children's home; or is at risk of harm, the children's home shall ask the local authority that looks after the child to review that child's care plan.

The National Minimum Standards (Standard 5.5) specifies that staff should actively search for children and work with the police where appropriate.

Please also refer to the Department of Education's, 'Statutory guidance on children who run away or go missing from home or care: Flowchart to accompany the statutory guidance'.

When the Local Authority and the Police Force analyse trends and patterns in relation to children, who run away or go missing from home, particular attention should be paid to repeat 'missing’ episodes. All partners and relevant agencies need to be alert to the risk of sexual exploitation or involvement in drugs, gangs or criminal activity such as trafficking and to be aware of local "hot spots" as well as concerns about any individuals, who children are missing with.

The Local authority and Gloucestershire Safeguarding Children Partnership should also consider some children are less likely to be reported missing and should be mindful of underreporting. Specifically children who have come to an agency's attention after accessing other services. There may also be trafficked children who have not previously come to the attention of children's services or the police.

Research demonstrates that children from black and minority ethnic groups, and children that go missing from education are less likely to be reported as missing. Partners and relevant agencies should be proactive in places where they believe under reporting may be more likely because of the relationships some communities, or individuals, have with the statutory sector.

Children missing from home are subject to risks and vulnerabilities similar to those for children in care. NHS designated and named professionals hold a statutory role with regards to safeguarding in the local health community and must be included in the information sharing and management processes being put in place for children deemed to be at high risk, as should education settings, including the Elective Home Education Service.

The Constabulary will respond to children and young people going missing based on on-going risk assessments in line with current APP guidance. The police will prioritise all incidents of missing children as very low risk, low risk, medium or high risk as set out in section 2.1 above.

Child protection procedures must be initiated in collaboration with children's social care services whenever there are concerns that a child who is missing may be suffering, or likely to suffer, significant harm in line with local and national child protection arrangements.

Where a child is living at home, and is the subject of a child protection plan, or, the subject of a s47 enquiry, there may be a requirement, based on the assessed risk, to undertake a strategy discussion in line with the local arrangements and Working Together to Safeguard Children Statutory Guidance on Strategy discussions.

Where the child is known to children's social care services or meets the criteria for referral to children's social care services, the Local Authority will ensure that an assessment takes place in keeping with local arrangements and there are a range of service options available to address the child's needs following the safe and well check and independent return review interview.

Children who have left home and are at risk of homelessness may be placed in supported accommodation, with the provision of specialist support, for example, for those who may have been exploited.

Safe and Well Checks

Safe and well checks should be carried out by the police as soon as possible after the child has returned. Their purpose is to check for any indications that the child has suffered harm, where and with whom they have been, and to give the child an opportunity to disclose any offending against them.

Where a child goes missing frequently, it may not be practicable for the police to see them every time they return. In these cases a reasonable decision should be taken in agreement between the police and the child's parent with regard to the frequency of such checks bearing in mind the established link between frequent missing episodes and serious harm. In addition consideration should be given to a referral to children's social care services for an assessment to understand the reasons why the child is going missing and to further assess the risk of harm.

The assessment of whether a child might run away again should be based on information about:

• Their individual circumstances;
• Family circumstances and background history;
• Social media activity;
• Their motivation for being reported missing;
• Their motivation for running away;
• Their potential destinations and associates;
• Their recent pattern of absences;
• The circumstances in which the child was found or returned; and
• Their individual characteristics and risk factors such as whether a child has learning difficulties, mental health issues, depression and other vulnerabilities.

The Independent Return Review is an in-depth interview and should be carried out by an independent professional (e.g. a social worker, 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 were reported missing.

The police should make a referral to the children's social care services to ensure that a return review interview takes place. Contact should be made with the child and an independent return interview should be offered and provided within 72 hours of the child being located or returning from absence, preferably in a neutral place where they feel safe. Delays in return interviews may mean a loss of important information or evidence.

The interview and actions that follow from it should:

• Identify and deal with any harm the child has suffered – including harm that might not have already been disclosed as part of the 'Safe and Well check'– either before they were reported missing;
• Understand and try to address the reasons why the child was reported missing;
• Help the child feel 'safe' and understand that they have options, to prevent repeat instances of them being reported missing;
• Understand what the child would like to see happen next whether short term and/or long term;
• Gather the parents' or carers' views of the circumstances, if appropriate;
• Provide the child with information on how to stay safe if they are reported missing again, including helpline numbers.

It is especially important that the independent return review interview takes place on all occasions when a child has been reported missing.

In addition, the partnership need to consider further activity such as a Strategy Discussion in line with the local arrangements and Working Together to Safeguard Children Statutory Guidance when:

• Has been hurt or harmed while they have been missing;
• Is at known or suspected risk of exploitation or trafficking;
• Is at known or suspected risk of involvement in criminal activity or drugs;
• Has contact with persons posing risk to children; and/or
• Has been engaged (or is believed to have engaged) in criminal activities during their missing.

Following the safe and well check and independent return review, the local authority children's services, police and relevant agencies should assess the child's needs and work together:

• To build up a comprehensive picture of why the child went missing;
• What happened while they were missing;
• Know who they were missing with and where they were found; and
• What support they require upon returning home.

Where children refuse to engage with the interview, parents should be offered the opportunity to provide any relevant information and intelligence they may be aware of. This should help to prevent further instances of the child being reported missing and identify early the support needed for them.

Information about local help lines and agencies working with missing children should be provided to the child and family.

1a. Children Missing Education (CME)   

Children Missing Education (CME) are defined as:

• Statutory school age children;
  • Who are not registered on a school roll nor at an educational base and are not being home educated; or
  • Who are not receiving a suitable home education; or
  • Are not receiving suitable education otherwise than at school.

i) Children Missing Education (CME)

The Authorities Children Missing Education (CME) team are responsible for CME CYP without EHCPs and are not in care

ii) Children Missing Education (CME EHCP)

The authorities EHCP Service are responsible for CME CYP with EHCPs. This includes at mainstream and special, including independent special

iii) Children Missing Education (CME CIC)

The authorities Childrens Social Care in partnership Virtual School service are responsible for those children in care education requirements as part of the child’s care plan

1b. Missing (family whereabouts unknown)

Children who are missing (family whereabouts unknown) are usually children who are registered on a school roll / alternative provision. This might be a child who is not at their last known address and either:

• Has not taken up an allocated school place as expected; or
• Has 10 or more days of continuous absence from school without explanation; or
• Contacts, including a drive by and attempted home visit by the EHE team, suggests the family are no longer at the address; or
• Left school suddenly and the destination is unknown.

The Authorities CME team are responsible for children missing (family whereabouts unknown)

1c. Children missing in education

Children missing in education are those on roll at a school, or accessing EHE or EHCP EOTAS / Exceptional Provision packages, or accessing 6th day provision that is not the authorities alternative provision, or accessing S19 provision, who:

• Are regularly absent from school (Persistently and Severely Absent);
• Have missed 10 school days or more without permission / unauthorised absence;
• Are known to be EHE (satisfactory from last contact) but upon next contact are not accessing education;
• Have an EHCP EOTAS or Exceptional Provision package but are not accessing it;
• Have 6^th day provision from a provider but are not accessing it;
• Have a S19 education placement arranged but are not accessing this.

1.d Missing Children

Missing children are those not attending school / Alternative Provision / EHE / EHCP EOTAS or EHCP Exceptional Provision / 6^th day provision that is not the authorities alternative provison / S19 provision, because:

• They have run away; and / or
• Have gone missing from home; or
• Have gone missing from care (e.g. residential or foster placement).

1a Children Missing Education (CME) All CYP

Recognition and initial response Notifications and Actions

The LA’s CME team, EHCP CME team, and Virtual School will be alerted of CME children through a variety of ways:

• A parent notifies that their child has moved into county without a school place; or
• A parent notifies that their child has not taken up an allocated school place as expected, and are not home educating nor attending private school; or
• A school / education setting notifies LA that CYP has not taken up an allocated education place as expected*; or
• Contact from a member of the public, or a professional, or an agency, such as social care, police, or a doctor’s surgery;
• Notification from the EHE team of home education deemed not suitable and steps taken to amend this have not been successful; the child is now therefore CME;
• Notification from the EHE team that the family have not engaged with the request for a plan of education, or the plan is not suitable, plus a home visit has not been successful, and letter 4 has been sent;
• Notification from the EHE team that letter 6 has been sent and there has been no response within 10 days; the child is now CME (a MARF is also now submitted by the EHE team);
• Notification from the EHE team that a parent has formally deregistered from EHE completed the formal ending of EHE form, so the child is now CME;
• Virtual School or the Social Worker notifying that an EHE child has been taken into care, and so will need a school place as they are now CME.

*Allocated school place but not arrived: on day one, if a child is subject to a child protection plan, is a child in care, or there are reasons to be concerned for the child's safety, the school must inform Social Care immediately, submit a MARF, and follow GSCB / school safeguarding procedures. The school should immediately undertake checks on the pupil’s whereabouts and records first day calling, attempts to make contact and gather contact details, gather information relating to wider school community, family, or support agencies, undertake a home visit within 5 days and list any other investigations undertaken.

Upon these alerts, the CME teams will initially…

• Make contact with the family to confirm what arrangements are in place for the child/rens education and offer support. 

Following the initial actions, the following actions are undertaken from the following list:

CME (no EHCP and not in care):

• Parent / social worker is supported to understand the in-year applications process and their legal duties;
• Parent / social worker is supported to undertake the in-year applications process;
• After 15 school days of being CME but no places yet available in schools, CME teams make a S19 referral for short term alternative education provision;
• Parent Adviser works with parents of Children Missing Education to ensure they are supported to return to education.

CiC CME:

• Carer / social worker is supported to understand the in-year applications process and their legal duties;
• Carer / social worker is supported to undertake the in-year applications process;
• After 15 school days of being CME but no places yet available in schools.

After 4-6 weeks

If they are CME no EHCP and not in care:

• If places still not available, the CME team will take the CYP through FAP for school placement. Temporary S19 provision remains in place if a child is unable to attend a mainstream setting;
• CME team consider whether a school attendance order is appropriate and work with the EIS legal officer to determine.

1b. Missing (family whereabouts unknown)

Recognition and initial response Notifications and Actions

Allocated school place but not arrived

On day one, if a child is subject to a child protection plan, is a child in care, or there are reasons to be concerned for the child's safety, the school must inform Social Care immediately and follow GSCB procedures.

The school should immediately undertake checks on the pupil’s whereabouts and records first day calling, attempts to make contact and gather contact details, gather information relating to wider school community, family, or support agencies, undertake a home visit within 5 days, contact previous school and list any other investigations undertaken.

The school should contact the local authority admission team to notify them of their concern and ask for their support with the matter.

On roll of school – 10 or more days of continuous absence without explanation and are not at their address, or left school suddenly and the destination is unknown:

If school reaches the judgement on day one is that there is no reason to believe that the child is suffering, or likely to suffer, significant harm, then the school may delay making a referral; however, if a child is subject to a child protection plan, is a child in care, or there are reasons to be concerned for the child's safety, the school must inform Social Care immediately, complete a MARF, and follow GSCB / safeguarding procedures.

The school should immediately undertake checks on the pupil’s whereabouts and records first day calling, attempts to make contact and gather contact details, gather information relating to wider school community, family, or support agencies, undertake a home visit within 5 days and list any other investigations undertaken.

If child is not located following checks, schools are to send the referral form to the Access to Education team, no later than the tenth day of absence and continue checks as appropriate. The Access to Education team will make further enquiries and attempts to locate the family including contacting other LAs and CME Officers, and will alert the Education Inclusion Service

EHE - contacts, including a drive by and attempted home visit by the EHE team, suggest the family are no longer at the address

• On day one, if a child is subject to a child protection plan, is a child in care, or there are reasons to be concerned for the child's safety, the EHE Officer / Lead must inform Social Care immediately and follow GSCP procedures. Where there is a real risk of harm to the child or the public the police should be informed;
• The appropriate professional (Social Worker or Police as determined above) should immediately undertake checks on the pupil’s whereabouts and welfare and record this, including alerting the EHE Officer first day calling, attempts to make contact and gather contact details, gather information relating to wider community, family, or support agencies, undertake a home visit within 5 days and list any other enquiries undertaken;
• EHE team notifies CME team that the family have not engaged with the request for a plan of education, or the plan is not suitable, plus a home visit has not been successful, and letter 4 has been sent;
• EHE team notifies CME team that letter 6 has been sent and there has been no response within 10 days; the child is now CME;
• A MARF is also now submitted by the EHE team.

Once schools have sent the referral form to the Access to Education team, no later than the tenth day of absence, the Access to Education CME team will make further enquiries and attempts to locate the family, including contacting other LAs and CME Officers.

The Local Authority CME team will:

• Check databases within the local authority;
• Use agreed protocols to check local databases;
• Check with partner agencies, including those known to be involved with the family;
• Check with the local authority the child moved from originally;
• Check with any local authority to which the child may have moved;
• Make enquiries by visiting the child's home and asking for information from the family's neighbours and their local community, as appropriate.

The child's circumstances and vulnerability will be reviewed and reassessed regularly jointly between the school's nominated safeguarding lead (DSL / DDSL) and the CME Officer, with MASH team referral where required.

The child will be discussed at the weekly Missing Monday meetings where the CME Officer, Parent Advisers, and In Year Coordinators discuss updates and actions for all Children Missing Education, making additional referrals where required.

1c: Children missing in education:

Recognition and initial response Notifications and Actions

On school roll and regularly absent or missed 10 school days or more without permission / unauthorised absence:

From the first day that a child does not attend school and there is no explanation or authorisation of the absence, the following steps should be taken:

• A trained staff member will make contact with the parents/carers (person with parental responsibility for the child) to seek reassurance that the child is safe at home;
• The outcome of the contact should be assessed and if there are any concerns a consultation with the school/establishment/colleges designated safeguarding lead should take place to consider the child's vulnerability;
• If a child is subject to a child protection plan, is a child in care, or there are reasons to be concerned for the child's safety, the DSL should inform Social Care immediately and follow GSCB / safeguarding procedures;
• If a situation is not resolved within 3 days school follows its attendance policy and a referral should be made to the police to carry out a welfare check. Referrals made to children's social care, as appropriate over the next two weeks.

6^th day provision from a provider that is not Alternative Provision but is not accessing it…:

• The provider would follow their own policies and procedure to establish contact with the child;
• The provider would alert the commissioner to the absence of the child;
• The commissioner would follow own policies and procedures  to establish contact with the child;
• The commissioner would follow their process and procedures in line with Ofsted guidelines

1d: Missing Children:

Recognition and initial response Notifications and Actions

If and when a member of school/educational establishment / EHE Officer / Casework Officer becomes aware that a child may have run away or gone missing, they should try to establish what has happened. If this is not possible, or the child is missing, the designated safeguarding lead should assess the child's vulnerability.

The school / educational establishment / EHE Officer / Casework Officer should work in collaboration with Children's social care and the police, and a designated safeguarding lead should participate in any strategy discussions, s47 enquiries and Child Protection Conferences which may arise.

If and when a member of school/educational establishment / EHE Officer / Casework Officer becomes aware that a child may have run away or gone missing, then while trying to establish the whereabouts of the child they should also make contact with the parent. If it is suspected the child is in real and imminent danger, then they should call the police and ensure that any information they have is passed on.

In the following circumstances a referral to relevant services should always be made promptly:

• The child is believed to be at risk of or the victim of a crime;
• The child is subject of a Child Protection plan;
• The child is subject of s47 enquiries;
• The child is looked after;
• There is a known person posing a risk to children in the household or in contact with the household;
• There is a history of the family moving frequently;
• There are serious issues of attendance.

The answers to further questions could assist a judgement whether or not to inform LA children's social care.

• In which age range is the child?
• Is this very sudden and unexpected behaviour?
• Have there been any past concerns about the child associating with significantly older young people or adults?
• Was there any significant incident prior to the child's unexplained absence?
• Has the child been a victim of bullying?
• Are there health reasons to believe that the child is at risk? e.g.
• Does the child need essential medication or health care?
• Was the child noted to be depressed prior to the child's unexplained absence?
• Are there religious or cultural reasons to believe that the child is at risk? e.g.
• Rites of passage or forced marriage planned for the child?
• Has the child got a disability and/or special educational needs?
• Have there been past concerns about this child and family which together with the sudden disappearance are worrying? e.g.
• Is there any known history of drug or alcohol dependency within the family?
• Is there any known history of domestic abuse?
• Is there concern about the parent/carer's ability to protect the child from harm?

The length of time that a child remains out of school could, of itself, be an alerting factor of risk of harm to the child.

Extended leave of absence can be authorised by the head teacher, at which point a return date is set. In these cases, the time line for enquiries starts from when the child does not attend school on the expected return date, not from the day the extended leave started.

The Education (Pupil Information) (England) Regulations 2000 (SI 2000/297) (as amended by SI 2001/1212 and SI 2002/1680) governs the transfer of information between schools.

• Regulation 10(3) states that 'The head teacher of the pupil's old school shall send the information within fifteen school days of the pupil's ceasing to be registered at the school'.
  
  However:

• Regulation 10 (4) states that 'This regulation does not apply where it is not reasonably practicable for the head teacher of the old school to ascertain the pupil's new school or where the pupil was registered at his old school for less than four weeks'.

If the CME team or any other agency becomes aware the child has moved to another school the service should ensure all relevant agencies are informed so that arrangements can be made to forward records from the previous school.

This section applies to children who are 'subject to restriction'. I.e. who have:

• Proceeded through immigration control without obtaining leave to enter; or
• Left the border control area Border Force accommodation without permission; or
• Been granted temporary admission; or
• Been granted temporary release or bail; or
• Released on a restriction order; or
• Served with a 'notice of liability to deport' or is the dependant of a foreign national offender whose status in the UK is under consideration by criminal casework – these dependants could be British Citizens or have extant leave.

A missing person's referral must be made by Home Office staff to the police, the UK missing Person Bureau and the local authority children's social care in a number of circumstances including:

• When a child 'subject to restriction' is identified as having been reported as missing from their parents;
• Where they are looked after and have gone missing from their placement;
• Where they are being hidden by their parents and where there is concern for the child's safety because they are being hidden by, or have gone missing with, their family.

A copy of the missing persons notification form must be shared with the local authority duty desk and the UK MPB.

If it is believed by Home Office staff that a child is being coerced to go missing , this must be reported as a concern that the child has suffered or is likely to suffer significant harm to the local police and children's social care services.

Notifications will also be made where a missing child is found by Home Office staff. See Children who run away or go missing from home or care (GOV.UK).

The local authority and health are responsible for:

• Reporting any missing child who is in their care to the police;
• Notifying the Home Office when a child is reported missing to the police or is found.

The police are responsible for:

• Investigating all children reported missing by the Home Office - following receipt of a missing person's notification;
• Conducting joint investigations with the Home Office where necessary;
• Circulating a missing child on the Police National Computer (PNC).

The local authority will also notify the Home Office Evidence and Enquiry Unit when a child in their care goes missing or when a missing child returns or is found. The Home Office must maintain regular weekly contact with the local authority and the police until the child is found and record all contact with the police and local authority.

Found by Home Office Staff

The local police and local authority must be informed immediately.

In consultation with the local police and local authority children's social care, a decision will be made as to where the child is to be taken, if they are not to be left at the address where they are encountered. The Home Office must follow up enquires with the local police and children/adult services in order to identify if there are any safeguarding issues.

Found by the police or local authority

Contact the relevant Immigration Compliance and Enforcement Team