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Complex Safeguarding Wales

Responding to child criminal exploitation

Child criminal exploitation is a cross-cutting issue, so it is vital that multi-agency partners deliver effective complex safeguarding.

Multi-agency working enables complex, transitional, and contextual safeguarding. These six principles support a whole-system approach that can be targeted at identifying and protecting young people by working together to:

  • prevent child criminal exploitation
  • safely support children and young people away from exploitation
  • identify, disrupt, and prosecute the exploiters

Child first

You should:

  • adopt a rights-based approach
  • listen to what matters to the young person
  • ensure that assessment of risk goes beyond criminal exploitation
  • understand that the risk of harm to young people can fluctuate over time

Shared language

You should:

  • adopt a common language, with shared definitions and thresholds
  • avoid sector-specific jargon
  • avoid all victim-blaming terms
  • agree on terms of reference and ways of working

Parents as part of the solution

You should:

  • understand that parents are experts on their children
  • understand the limited influence that parents have on teenagers
  • ensure that parents are not blamed: most young people are criminally exploited by other adults
  • appreciate that parents have important information that can be used for safeguarding

Clear roles and responsibilities

You should:

  • understand each agency’s role, remit, and priorities
  • understand what each agency can contribute
  • establish communication channels between agencies
  • ensure multi-agency plans are developed and delivered

Information sharing

You should:

  • establish protocols for recording, sharing, and updating information
  • understand what information should be shared
  • consider whether the risk to the young person will increase if you share information

Specialist knowledge

You should:

  • build specialist knowledge of how child criminal exploitation operates in your local area
  • learn initiatives to target it
  • ensure your knowledge of criminal exploitation is up-to-date
  • disseminate relevant information within and across agencies