This report examines how safeguarding partnerships across England respond to county lines exploitation and serious youth violence, identifying systemic weaknesses and providing recommendations for multi-agency practitioners working with vulnerable children.
Details
Based on 164 professional interviews across nine safeguarding partnerships, the report identifies fragmented safeguarding strategies and inconsistent implementation of statutory partnership duties.
Key findings include:
- the county lines business model continues to evolve, adapting to enforcement and market changes;
- significant overlap between victims and perpetrators complicates child-centred approaches;
- a transitional safeguarding ‘cliff-edge’ at age 18 leaves children unsupported as they move into adulthood;
- the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) is poorly understood and inconsistently used; and
- adultification and unconscious bias continue to affect responses to certain groups of children.
The report sets out ten national recommendations, including:
- establishing a national Child and Young Person Exploitation (CYPE) Working Group;
- introducing a legal definition of child exploitation with statutory guidance;
- reviewing the NRM process to address referral inconsistencies;
- revising the county lines definition to reflect local models and online recruitment;
- developing a national youth drug response strategy; and
- prioritising universal services funding over short-term, target-driven approaches.
- Seven local recommendations focus on developing CYPE strategies with tripartite ownership, improving health sector collaboration, and creating protocols for children placed out of area.
Commentary
This report provides important evidence for youth justice practitioners advocating for standardised multi-agency protocols. The findings reinforce the need to move away from crisis intervention toward early identification and prevention. Practitioners should familiarise themselves with NRM processes. More support can be found via our legal guides (freely available for YJLC members) on Child Criminal Exploitation and Safeguarding as well as by registering for our regular workshops and / or team trainings covering these topics.