Missing Children group
Missing Children
The Government’s response (1998) to the Children’s Safeguards Review (1997) included a commitment to develop guidance on the action to be taken when a child goes missing or runs away. In November 2002, the Department of Health (DH) issued statutory guidance under Section 7 of the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970.
Following the Laming Report (2003) which enquired into the death of Victoria Climbié the Every Child Matters Green Paper (September 2003) highlighted the needs for better communication and collaborative practice with regard to children at risk. This agenda has been taken forward in The Children Act (2004), and the National Indicator set.
The Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) is responsible for coordinating agencies activities aimed at safeguarding children, and ensuring the effectiveness of these activities.
The DH Guidance and SEU Report requires local agencies to establish systems for early identification of young people likely to run away. This system needs to operate within the framework of Identification Sharing and Assessment (ISA) which all local authorities and their partners were required to put in place during 2004/05.
OSCB
For the purpose of the OSCB Missing Children is split into two categories
- Children Missing From Education (CME)
- Missing Children ie those who run away
Separate processes are in place around each of these categories and the Board receives regular reports in relation to both types of vulnerable children.
The Education Subgroup has responsibilities for monitoring issues around CME.
Reports go direct to the Executive in relation to Missing Children who then highlights areas of note for the OSCB. Further guidance on Missing Children can be found in the OSCB Procedures
Documents
Thames Valley Missing Children Protocol (.pdf format, 20.8Kb)
Thames Valley Missing Children Guidance (.pdf format, 67.9Kb)
