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Contents

1. When a Child is Missing From Home
2. When a Missing Child is Located
3. Return Interviews
4. Reporting to the Safeguarding Children's Board

1. When a Child is Missing From Home

When the Children and Families Service are notified that a child is missing, the information should be assessed to determine the level of risk to the child and whether the child is a Child in Need.

If the missing child is:

• The subject of a Child Protection Plan
• The subject of a Child Protection Enquiry
• The subject of an Initial Assessment  or Core Assessment
• Or where professionals agree that the child is a Child in Need and there are concerns for a child's welfare or safety if they are not located, the following persons/agencies must be notified:
  1. The relevant Police station/Missing Persons Unit and the Police Family Protection  Unit
  2. The Register Custodian and the Designated Nurse (where the child is the subject to a Child Protection Plan
  3. All local agencies that know the child - to obtain any information that may assist the Police to trace the child
  4. The Education Welfare Service - to notify colleagues in other boroughs
  5. All those with Parental Responsibility and, where appropriate, members of the extended family
  6. Legal Services (if the child is subject to Court proceedings)

Any unauthorised absence lasting for 24 hours should be reported to the Designated Manager (Absent Children) and their Service Manager by the child's social worker.

If the child is not traced, a Strategy Meeting should be held within 5 working days to consider:

• Whether to circulate the child's details to other local authorities and agencies in the area where the child may be
• Notifying national agencies, including the Benefits Agency and Child Benefit Agency
• Appropriate legal action if there is any concern that the child may be removed from the jurisdiction

If the child is the subject of a Child Protection Plan and is still missing after 20 working days, a Child Protection Review Conference must be convened to consider any additional action.

2. When a Missing Child is Located

When a child, who has been the subject of a Strategy Meeting, is located, a further Strategy Meeting between the agencies involved should be convened to consider:

1. Immediate safety issues
2. Whether to initiate a Child Protection Enquiry
3. Who will interview the child (whether or not a Child Protection Enquiry is to take place)
4. Whether an Initial Assessment or Core Assessment should be completed to determine any services required
5. Who needs to be informed of the child's return (both locally and nationally)

Where a child is located in the area of another local authority and is unlikely to return to the borough, a representative of the local authority where the child now lives should be invited to the Strategy Meeting to consider a transfer of the case. The case should not be closed until a transfer meeting has taken place.

If the child is subject to a Child Protection Plan, the child's social worker in consultation with the Safeguarding Manager, must consider the need to convene a Child Protection Review Conference.

3. Return Interviews

Where a child known to Children and Families Service returns, he or she should be offered an interview with a social worker and/or an independent professional or the child's choice of an alternative professional. The interview offers the child an opportunity to discuss any concerns away from the parents or carers.

Where a child has indicated a wish to speak to an independent professional, the social worker must ensure referral details are passed to the independent agency providing the return interview.

Parents will need to be informed, and involved if this is appropriate.

The purpose of the return interview is to:

• Give the child the chance to talk about why they ran away
• Assess any risks including risk of future running away
• Provide advice, information and support
• Consider whether services, for example family mediation or youth counselling, are required

4. Reporting to the Safeguarding Children's Board

The Designated Manager (Absent Children) will report to the Director of Social Services and the Local Safeguarding Children's Board information about patterns of absence among Looked After children, including:

• Numbers of missing children episodes
• Child protection implications
• Actions taken when children return
• Any practice and procedural issues.

End