Drawing on the voices of children, care staff, social workers and police practitioners from across North, South and West Yorkshire, the study by Dr Kirsty Bennett, Senior Lecturer in Criminology and Policing at Leeds Trinity University, highlights that urgent changes are needed to improve protection, raise awareness, and cultivate trust for some of the UK’s most vulnerable young people. 

The research, which Dr Bennett has compiled in the book Repeatedly Missing Children: Multi-Agency Partnerships for Safeguarding and Prevention in England and Wales uncovers how a child’s living environment, particularly unregulated settings or temporary accommodation, shapes both their vulnerability and the response they receive when they go missing. The key message respondents to cases of repeat missing children and safeguarding bodies need to take away from the findings is that each time a child goes missing represents a new set of risks.  

Dr Kirsty Bennett said: “If a child goes missing, it is an indicator that something is wrong in the child’s life, irrespective of whether they go missing one time or 30.  My research looked at first-hand accounts of these experiences, where children described their missing episodes, working relations with different agencies, and what support is needed to both improve multi-agency arrangements and keep children safe. Understanding their individual experiences and embedding the necessary practices within multi-agency arrangements are key to ensuring these children do not fall through the gaps.”   

Dr Bennett is calling for a more child-centred approach to missing episodes, alongside stronger national guidance, better training for staff across statutory and voluntary services, and more collaborative, evidence-informed multi-agency decision-making processes and practices.