Safeguarding – child criminal exploitation
Key findings
- There are many factors that can make children vulnerable to child criminal exploitation (CCE), and the greater the number of individual, family and neighbourhood vulnerabilities the child has, the greater the risk of being targeted by exploiters. There are also key moments of risk for children, such as school exclusion, running away, or moving between care placements.
- A coordinated approach is required to addressing CCE, with all partners identifying vulnerable children and sharing that data to build a complete picture. Parents can be ideally placed to contribute knowledge and support the development of safeguarding strategies.
- Practitioners need to be aware of the warning signs of CCE, and use sensitive and appropriate language with child victims, who are likely to have experienced trauma. Children require warm, empathetic and trusting relationships with practitioners.
- High-quality mentoring can improve safeguarding outcomes for children. Contextual safeguarding should also be considered, especially for older children whose risks are often outside the home.
- Adopting the public health model of violence reduction combined with focused deterrence policing is a promising evidence-informed strategic approach for tackling urban street gangs, but more evidence is required for what is most effective in facilitating exit from such gangs.
Background
CCE involves children being encouraged, cajoled or threatened to carry out crime for the benefit of others. In return children are offered the social benefits of friendship, belonging and peer acceptance, but also material rewards such as cigarettes, drugs, alcohol or food, and/or accommodation. Exploited children may not believe themselves that they are being exploited; they may see themselves as a ‘playa’ – a valued gang member – or a good family member or friend.
The video below, produced by the Children’s Society, sets out three stages of grooming.
Disclaimer: an external platform has been used to host this video. Recommendations for further viewing may appear at the end of the video and are beyond our control.
County lines drug dealing is currently a major source of CCE concern. County lines operations are undertaken by urban street gangs, and more organised crime groups, mostly based in cities. The operation usually involves exporting illegal drugs into one or more importing areas, usually smaller towns, within Britain. However, there is evidence that children outside the major cities are being recruited. Children and vulnerable adults are used to move and store drugs, money and weapons. Coercion, intimidation, and violence (including sexual violence) are used to control the children and vulnerable people recruited to the operations. Children of all ages are being criminally exploited; indeed, police and other agencies are reporting that very young children are being brought into the orbit of urban street gangs and county lines.
Key statistics are as follows:
- in the Crime Survey for England and Wales for 2017/2018, 27,000 children (10-17 years) in England identified as a member of a street gang
- based upon research in 2019, it has been estimated that 30 to 50,000 children are being criminally exploited by county lines gangs
- nine in ten of those identified as being exploited through county lines are boys, although girls could be being missed through any gender biases in policing.
Summary of the evidence
Identifying children at risk
Children are often attracted to CCE (especially gangs) by the need for friendship, a sense of meaning and purpose, protection, money and gifts, fun and excitement, and even sexual opportunities. For some children, CCE is an opportunity to earn and contribute to their family. Children experiencing CCE are often unlikely to disclose because they don’t realise they are being exploited or because they are scared of what will happen.
There are many factors that can make children more vulnerable to CCE including:
- living in poverty and/or in a deprived community
- trauma, abuse and neglect
- behavioural challenges
- school absence and exclusions
- special educational needs
- care experience
- substance misuse
- mental health issues.
The greater the number of individual, family and neighbourhood vulnerabilities the child has, the greater the risk of being targeted by exploiters. There are some signs to look out for, and research also indicates that there are key moments of risk for children, such as school exclusion, running away, or moving between care placements. These life events need active planning and intervention to prevent the situation deteriorating.
Practice responses
A recent review of the evidence concluded that although there was little research on what works in addressing CCE, there are some essential starting points for services:
- all partners should flag those children identified as, or vulnerable to, CCE through case management systems, and share that data to build up a local picture
- youth justice services and children’s services should coordinate their approach to CCE
- youth justice services should ensure they have local intelligence to identify vulnerable children, especially care leavers and those leaving custody, and ensure such children are not clustered together in accommodation or premises that heighten the CCE risk.
CCE is associated with serious violence, substance misuse, criminalisation, and with child sexual exploitation (CSE). There are lessons to be learnt from tackling CSE. As with CSE, understanding of the child’s context, relationships and social capital, and establishing trusted relationships with agencies, friends and family is critical to ending the exploitation. Parents can be ideally placed to contribute knowledge and support the development of safeguarding strategies, and the value of their involvement in the development of suitable responses has thus been highlighted.
All agencies should treat the child as a victim, not a perpetrator; this should be reinforced to the child in language and treatment by all professionals. Practitioners need to be aware of the warning signs of CCE, and use sensitive and appropriate language with child victims, who are likely to have experienced trauma. As with any form of safeguarding work, children require warm, empathetic and trusting relationships with practitioners. A strengths-based relationship-focused approach is likely to work best with CCE victims. In addition, high-quality mentoring can improve safeguarding outcomes for children. Contextual safeguarding should also be considered by partnerships, especially for older children whose risks are often outside the home; it should be recognised that ‘risky’ friends, associates and older siblings are likely to be navigating the very same harmful social environments.
Adopting the public health model of violence reduction combined with focused deterrence policing is a promising evidence-informed strategic approach for tackling the urban street gangs, but more evidence is required for what is most effective in facilitating exit from such gangs.
A ‘deep dive’ investigation was undertaken as part of the joint targeted area inspections (JTAIs) with a focus on child exploitation. The 2018 report on criminal exploitation, human trafficking and modern slavery (PDF, 356 kB) concluded as follows:
- Preventing and responding to CCE and sexual exploitation are big challenges for agencies and professionals nationally and locally. It can be done, but agencies must ensure that they have the building blocks in place to work effectively and quickly.
- All agencies need to get the basics right. Effective and efficient ‘front door’ services that prioritise training on exploitation for staff are crucial in the identification of children who are being exploited. When a child presents with offending, or other concerning behaviour, professionals need to be curious and compassionate and ask: what is happening in this child’s life that is causing them to behave this way?
- Everyone involved must understand local issues of exploitation and gangs so that responses can be carefully coordinated to meet local need. Partnerships need to not only identify and respond to the risk of exploitation, but work with children, parents and local communities to prevent exploitation through awareness-raising.
- When children are identified as being exploited, professionals need to ‘stay with’ the child. These children have been groomed and threatened and might not recognise that they are being exploited. Professionals must not give up on children or their families. Both are in danger and need their help, support and protection.
- The only way of responding to and preventing highly organised criminal operations that exploit children is to have a highly coordinated multi-agency and whole-council approach. Local partnerships need to be aware of the risks of exploitation in their local area. They must be curious at a strategic and operational level about what is happening in their locality.
Dixon, N. (2023). Understanding Child Criminal Exploitation in Scotland: A Scoping Review. Glasgow: Children’s and Young People’s Centre for Justice.
Fitch, K. (2009). Teenagers at risk: The safeguarding needs of young people in gangs and violent peer groups. London: NSPCC.
Harding, S. (2021). County lines: exploitation and drug dealing among urban street gangs. Bristol: Bristol University Press.
Maxwell, N., Wallace, C., Cummings, A., Bayfield, H. and Morgan, H. (2019). A systematic map and synthesis review of Child Criminal Exploitation. Cardiff University.
Maxwell, N. (2023). ‘I’m Trying to Save My Family: Parent Experiences of Child Criminal Exploitation’, Youth Justice, 23(2), pp. 243–258.
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Last updated: 27 October 2023
