Report calls for radical new approach to protect children exploited in County Lines

The study, funded by the Hadley Trust, says young people trafficked to deal drugs should be returned to their home area for a “crisis intervention” and calls for an end to the practice of ‘exile’ – in which children are placed in care a long way from where they live.

Researchers from Crest Advisory, the criminal justice consultancy, used police records, local intelligence, information from support agencies and interviews with staff to analyse the cases of 13 boys suspected of involvement in County Lines gangs in England.

They found a number of common features in the boys’ lives – such as drug misuse, domestic abuse and periods where they went missing – as well as missed opportunities to prevent them from being drawn into gangs.

The former anti-slavery commissioner, Dame Sara Thornton DBE QPM, who provided a foreword for Crest’s report, said: “The in-depth study of the lives of 13 boys reveals that all had been subject to trauma and damage in their young lives before they were criminally exploited.

“The dealers are clearly targeting the vulnerable and there appears to be very few protective factors present,” she said.

Dame Sara, who is hosting a webinar on Thursday (September 8) to launch the report, added: “A step-change in the system response is required.”

Crest found that:

Early intervention and prevention should address extra-familial risks

• Children and young people in need of additional help and support due to traumatic events and serious problems in their childhood are at heightened risk of being criminally exploited; and
• The research reveals numerous missed opportunities for agencies to respond to ‘red flags’, which indicated young people were at risk of child criminal exploitation (CCE).

Arresting police forces are unable to identify exploitation in children affected by county lines in the absence of clear evidence

• Expertise and knowledge is contained within specialist teams dealing with children who are potential victims of CCE, yet given the level of County Lines activity, these capabilities need to become more embedded across public services;
• The 13 case studies demonstrate that there is typically an absence of clear evidence or disclosures from young people; and
• Police officers making the arrest (or arrests) in County Lines are often forced to rely on gut-reaction, value judgments or instinct based on contextual factors such as the ages of young people, their attitudes and demeanour.

Children and young people suspected of being victims of exploitation require urgent crisis support in their local area

• The National Referral Mechanism (‘NRM’), effectively the diagnostic system for supporting modern slavery victims and those at risk of exploitation, is failing children and young people. It places them in limbo at their time of greatest vulnerability due to unacceptable drift and delay, and decisions which are not based on the best possible information; and
• The localisation pilot run by the Home Office provides a model for new CCE panels, in which senior representatives of relevant agencies from specialist teams jointly protect victims.

This latest research builds on a project conducted in 2020 by Crest Advisory into the exploitation of looked after children within County Lines.

“This project widens the focus onto all young people involved in county drug lines, addressing two of the most significant challenges facing police forces and their local authority partners,” said Crest Advisory.

“First, how is a decision reached on whether a young person identified as participating in County Lines by the police is a victim, a willing participant or a groomer?

“Secondly, when a young person is identified as a victim, what are their outcomes over time and how are those outcomes shaped by the safeguarding responses they receive from statutory authorities?”

The full report and the 13 case studies can be found on the Crest Advisory website, here.