We are mindful of the safeguarding issues relating to ‘County Lines’, and sharing of information on those vulnerable people that could be susceptible to ‘cuckooing’ is a prevention tool that will help reduce further victims of crime.
This would also be the case for potential victims of Modern Slavery (MS), where circumstances can be similar when vulnerable people are exploited. The Community Risk Multi–Agency Risk Assessment Conference (CR MARAC) is an appropriate panel where some of those identified are best referred to for support services.
As a local authority, Bexley will map out our current response and coordination to County Lines and those children that are ‘missing’ because of their exploitation into criminality. Many of those young people involved are known to Children’s Services, will have several Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), and be subject to involvement from more than one department/organisation. This mapping exercise will give a clearer picture of what resource, management, and training implications the authority and wider partnership face when case working these individuals.
Because of the prevalence of ACEs in both victims and perpetrators of serious violence, it is recognised that a Trauma Informed Approach (TIA) is an important means to assisting with their personal ‘recovery’ and diversion away from further criminality or victimisation. This is increasingly being used when assessing young people (and adults) with complex needs, resulting in more bespoke action plans and greater understanding of potential triggers that the individual is susceptible to.
As a partnership, we are seeing an increase in young people with SEN being exploited, involved in criminality as well as being victims and perpetrators of violent crime. As with ACEs, it is important that early identification and support of SEN is prioritised in order to assist and divert away some of this cohort from exploitation, victimisation and criminality.
One area somewhat out of the control of the local authority is the placement of young people into the borough who are not known to Children’s Social Care (CSC) but may have been moved here for safety reasons due to ‘gang’ or other violent crime issues. The transfer of information on these individuals can be sporadic, and that in itself can heighten the risk for the young person and the surrounding community. Cross-borough information sharing is key to lessening this risk.
We will continue to explore the area of disproportionality within the violent crime arena and further analyse the demographics and backgrounds of both victims and perpetrators of violent crime. This will help to understand whether those involved (especially those under 25 years old) are ‘victims of their circumstances’ (e.g., from areas of deprivation etc) or if there are other root causes or commonality within the cohort.
