1.3.5 Merseyside Protocol for Children Missing from Home and Care

This chapter was updated in June 2010 to link to the “Statutory guidance on children who run away and go missing from home or care” issued by the DCSF in July 2009.

Foreword
Introduction
Definition of a Missing Person and Categories
Missing Children
National Context
Local Context
Roles and Responsibilities
Returning Home
Additional Procedures for Looked After Children
Children - Longer or Significant Absences
Monitoring Children or Young People Who Go Missing

Appendix 1: Risk Factors

Appendix 2: Activation of Child Safeguarding Procedures Flowchartt

Appendix 3: Personal Descriptive Form

Appendix 4: Return Questionnaire

Appendix 5: Guidance to Carers

Appendix 6: Merseyside Contacts Lists

1. Foreword

In 2004 a protocol was agreed between the below mentioned partner agencies:

In 2008 this was reviewed by the same agencies with the exception of Halton who have now adopted the Cheshire protocol.

Local authorities, Merseyside Connexions, the Police and local Voluntary Agencies have worked together to aim towards a consistent response to the needs of children who go missing or run away from home or care. Ensuring a consistent approach and reliable follow up in appropriate cases will be essential in minimising the likelihood of children repeatedly going missing and running away.

It is within the spirit of partnership that the following protocol has been developed with the shared outcome being that all children and young people in Greater Merseyside have a safe start in life.

Safeguarding professionals from Knowsley have taken an active part in the development of this protocol. In addition these professionals have provided Knowsley specific guidance to ensure that the procedures are in place to provide effective safeguards for the children and young people of the Borough. This is highlighted in bold italic print throughout the protocol.

The Greater Merseyside Connexions Partnership covered the six areas of Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral.

2. Introduction

Merseyside partner agencies have produced this protocol to enable a consistent response to the needs of children and young people who go missing or run away from home or care. This collaborative working will offer a safe and prompt response to the needs of children and young people who go missing or run away from home or care so that everything possible is done to make sure they are found and made safe.

All children deserve the opportunity to achieve their full potential. This is set out in the Every Child Matters outcomes framework and focusing on outcomes is the key to improving children and young people's wellbeing. A reminder of the five outcomes:

stay safe
be healthy
enjoy and achieve
make a positive contribution
achieve economic wellbeing

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined in 'Working Together to Safeguard Children' HMSO 2006 as:

protecting children from maltreatment
preventing impairment of children's health and development
ensuring that children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care

In November 2002, the Department of Health (DoH) issued statutory guidance under Section 7 of the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970. This guidance was detailed in the Local Authority Circular 17 (2002), which builds on the report from the Social Exclusion Unit (SEU, November 2002). The DoH Statutory Guidance (2002) summarizes messages from various research reports and makes recommendations on prevention. This aims to ensure the safety of those that run away, advises on appropriate help on their return and highlights co-coordinating responsibilities at a local and national level. One of the DoH key recommendations for local authorities, the police and partners is to:

"Ensure that multi agency protocols are in place on the action to be taken when children go missing from care and home or run away"

The purpose of this protocol is to ensure:

all services concerned with the care and protection of children and young people work together in accordance with the protocol and procedures
a clear plan is activated whenever children and young people run away/are missing
all appropriate agencies and individuals are notified if children and young people run away/are missing and/or return
appropriate and effective actions are taken when children and young people return or are located
effective early intervention is achieved to prevent repeat running away and associated risks
the police are appropriately notified of children and young people who go missing or run away
effective monitoring procedures are in place
children and young people are positively encouraged to influence the outcome of any professional intervention
ensure a prompt and effective response 24 hours a day

This protocol should be read alongside the SCB Procedures Section 6.11, Children and Families who Go Missing

3. Definition of a Missing Person and Categories

A missing person is anyone whose whereabouts are unknown, whatever the circumstances of disappearance. He or she will be considered missing until located and his or her wellbeing or otherwise established.

For the purposes of this protocol, three categories of identification are used that call for different responses from the agencies. Local enquiries and risk assessments need to be carried out to determine which category the young person falls into.

A child or young person under the age of 18 years is to be considered 'missing' through:

missing from home or run away with cause for concern
missing from care
missing families including children on a Child Protection Plan

All such missing children or young people will be considered to be a child at risk under Section 47 of the Children Act (1989). This section of the Act gives the power to all appropriate agencies to disclose relevant information to provide a positive outcome for the child or young person/s.

Unauthorised Absence

An individual may be categorised as an unauthorised absence if the person has deliberately or carelessly absented themselves and:

their behaviour is not out of character
they are either expected to return or be found quickly, or are temporarily staying with a relative, friend or associate
they are not expected to suffer or cause significant harm to others whilst absent

This categorisation must not be used as a convenient way of avoiding the obligation to respond record and investigate a missing person when there are genuine concerns for their welfare or the person is at imminent risk.

It is not the number of times a child or young person goes absent that determines their status as missing or unauthorised absence. It is the level of risk that they are likely to be exposed to.

4. Missing Children

4.1

Initial response

Clearly, some children and young people absent themselves from home and/or care for a short period of time and then return, often their whereabouts are known. These children and young people are not considered at risk and usually they are testing boundaries. Sometimes children stay out longer than agreed either on purpose or unwittingly. This kind of boundary testing activity is well within the range of normal teenage behaviour and may not come within the category of 'missing' from this protocol. However, each individual child should be subject to a risk assessment based on individual circumstances and vulnerability (See Appendix 1: Risk Factors).

4.2

In considering a child or young person who is thought to be missing from home by their parent, carer or guardian, they will apply their own judgement with regard to the overall circumstances of the child or young person and the circumstances in which they have gone missing. If, in their opinion, the absence of the child or young person is more than 'boundary testing' activity, then they will, in normal circumstances, alert the police who will then apply a risk assessment to the report being made and deal accordingly.

5. National Context

Running away is a dangerous activity that puts children and young people at risk

5.1 Prevalence

approximately 11% of young people run away from home for at least one night before their 16th birthday
There are an estimated number of 129,000 incidents of young people running away in the UK each year. Using the same figures this involved approximately 100,000 young people, the remainder were repeats

5.2 Characteristics

more runaways are female than male
most running occurs from the age of 13 onwards
rates of running away are higher for young people living with a step family 18% and in a lone parent family 13% than with both parents, 8%
rates of running away and repetitive running are substantially higher for young people and children who are Looked After

5.3 Reasons for running away

Poor family relationships.
conflict
maltreatment
a significant proportion, approximately 25%, define themselves as having been forced to leave home.
strong links have also been found between running away and other issues i.e. truancy, offending, substance misuse

5.4 Experiences whilst away

approximately 16% of young people sleep rough whilst away from home
Approximately 8% report being hurt or harmed.
Approximately 12% resort to survival strategies such as begging and stealing.
a quarter of young people who run, will have at least one of the above experiences whilst away

(Stepping Up Report - Children's Society 2007)

6. Local Context

Merseyside Police statistics indicate that between April 2007 and March 2008, 3494 young people (under 18yrs) were reported missing from a home or care setting.

These figures do not include those young persons who were treated as 'Unauthorised Absence'. There were 1560 reported incidents of 'Unauthorised Absence'

These figures are broken down into the six Merseyside Police areas;

Month-Year	Wirral	Sefton	Knowsley	St Helens	L/Pool North	L/Pool South	Merseyside
Apr-07	33	39	18	28	42	33	193
May-07	41	55	34	26	34	19	209
Jun-07	64	67	39	51	68	43	332
Jul-07	52	62	39	28	60	51	292
Aug-07	48	70	16	36	91	46	307
Sep-07	24	59	30	43	68	93	317
Oct-07	37	57	22	55	71	72	314
Nov-07	33	38	18	60	61	79	289
Dec-07	42	34	21	42	68	92	299
Jan-08	26	68	28	42	61	103	328
Feb-08	29	63	31	39	54	90	306
Mar-08	42	78	22	44	58	64	308
Year to April 2008	471	690	318	494	736	785	3494

7. Roles and Responsibilities

Every individual has a duty to inform the authorities if a child is missing.

Parent and or Carer	After making reasonable enquiries as to the whereabouts of the missing child/young person, the parent/carer should notify the Police. If the child is the subject of a Care Order or is accommodated by the Local Authority, the Children's Services Department should also be informed by the alerter and confirmed by the police. Parent's failing to make appropriate notifications when their child/young person is missing may reflect on that parent's ability to protect and, as such this may be raised as a child protection issue.
All Agencies and Voluntary Organisations	If it comes to the attention of any agency or voluntary organisation that a young person is missing from home they must advise the parent/carer of their duty to report the child missing to the Police and of the organisation's to ensure the matter is reported to the police.
Social Care	Social Care will work within the Framework for the Assessment of children and their families in need, local Safeguarding Children Procedures and Children in Need/Child Concern Procedures. In all reported cases Children's Services will consider the need for an Initial Assessment or S47 Investigation to address the identified risks. Consideration will also be given to the need for a Strategy Meeting to be held and independently chaired by an Independent Reviewing Officer who is located in the Quality Assurance Unit. If the missing child or young person is Looked After, the subject of a Child Protection Plan, or there are any child protection concerns identified at the time of reporting, the Children's Services Manager must be informed within 24 hours and there must be immediate implementation of local Safeguarding children procedures (See Appendix 2: Activation of Child Safeguarding Procedures). In the event of any child missing over 48 hours there must be regular strategy meetings held under safeguarding procedures and the actions/decisions of which reviewed at least every 7 days until the child is found. Following any episode of missing from Care or when children are subject to a Child Protection Plan, the allocated Social Worker must undertake a return interview and complete return questionnaire (Appendix 4: Return Questionnaire).
Police	Merseyside Police must refer to Force Policy and Procedures for Missing Persons. There are dedicated Missing Person Co-ordinators in each of the 6 Force areas All children or young persons reported missing from home or absent from care are initially considered by the police as being 'Vulnerable - High Risk'. The Police will carry out proactive enquiries to locate, trace and make arrangements with the parents/carer/residential home, for them to collect the child or young person as soon as possible, and return them home. In addition to specific internal actions to locate and trace the missing person, the following times scales are of relevance: Within 2 hours the Police National Computer will be updated with the subjects' details. regular contact with the person reporting (alerter) is to be established as soon as possible and maintained until the child or young person is returned liaison with partner and other agencies to be established as soon as possible continual review and risk assessment to be applied If Missing for 24 hours: children's Services to be informed regardless of circumstances of child or young person going missing continual review and risk assessment to be applied education Welfare Officer/Services to be informed and the school notified If Missing up to 7 days: Missing People charity to be informed - if not already notified close contact with partner and other relevant agencies to be maintained If Missing over 7 days: All missing Children and Young Persons to be classed as 'High Risk' if not already assessed at this level before this time lapse. (At this stage children will be dealt with under Safeguarding Children procedures). press/media strategy to be implemented - if not already in place If Missing over 14 days: NPIA- Missing Persons Bureau to be informed - if not already notified. If Missing for over 10 weeks: Ensure the Police National Computer report on the subject is extended and reviewed periodically.
Residential Unit Staff/Foster Carers	Staff must follow specific local protocols for missing from care. Within 48 hours of a child/Young Person being 'looked after' a photograph and a personal description should be taken (Appendix 3: Personal Descriptive Form). Prior to informing the Police and in addition to local protocols: staff must ensure they have thoroughly searched the care establishment and its grounds to verify that the child is in fact absent speak with other residents to obtain relevant information about the missing child Make all appropriate telephone enquiries about the whereabouts of the child. This will involve trying to contact the child themselves, friends, family, associates and appropriate locations. This should include pro active efforts of going out to search for the missing child, at known locations/ addresses complete or obtain a copy of the missing person Personal Descriptive Report Form and forward it to the police, together with the results of all the above enquiries (See Appendix 3: Personal Descriptive Form) If 'Unauthorised Absence' and reporting to Police state that it is an 'Unauthorised Absence' and quote Altaris code 328. (See Appendix 5: Guidance to Carers)
Inclusion Services	On receipt of notification that a child The respective worker should then check Contact Point to establish if the child is known to any other agency and follow this up by contacting the police to verify that the reporting by the parent/carer has occurred. In addition it may be necessary to consider the need for an assessment using the common assessment framework. All agencies should consider the risk factors (See Appendix 1: Risk Factors). There is a responsibility on everyone to ensure there is no undue delay which may place the child or young person at risk.
Connexions Staff	All Staff should follow the Merseyside procedures above for "All agencies and voluntary organisations" The designated officer with Connexions to receive all notifications and the agency response is: Yvonne McCormick Huyton Connexions Centre 12 - 14 Lansdowne Way, Huyton, L36 9YS Tel: 0151 949 5700 Mobile: 07969 152955 The prime concern should be to ensure and safeguard the young person's welfare and safety, as stated in the Code of Practice for Connexions Personal Advisers (November 2003). Personal Advisers will need to be sensitive to the young persons needs but ensure that support mechanisms are in place and appropriate services informed. Connexions staff must ensure that information received is recorded appropriately on the client record. If there are any child protection concerns staff must follow Knowsley SCB Child Protection Policy and Procedures and report concerns to the appropriate statutory agencies. For Service Delivery see Appendix 6: Merseyside Contacts Lists
Health	Children and young people missing from home or care often present themselves for health care at various health services e.g. Accident and Emergency Departments, Walk-in Centres, GP Surgeries. The local Designated Professionals (Doctor, Nurses etc.) will co-ordinate the circulation of missing child alerts. They will ensure that the relevant health services are alerted. If a child initially discloses that they have run away, then the Health Professional needs to refer to "All agencies and voluntary organisations" section above, and to their own internal policy and procedures.

8. Returning Home

8.1	If any information is gathered during the course of enquiries which indicates a child or young person will be at risk on their return home, the Police and Social Care must be informed immediately, so that they may take appropriate action. This notification should be followed by a CAF within 48 hours. When a child/young person returns or is located, the Police will attend as soon as possible and in any event within 24 hours. The purpose of this is to establish that the child is safe and well and to ensure as far as possible that it is safe to return to the home or placement. They will then notify other agencies as appropriate and the missing person reports will be cancelled within 2 hours.
8.2	If there were already concerns in existence relating to either: the missing individual the circumstances under which they went missing their activity whilst missing or potential exposure to danger / risk whilst missing the care establishment that the child or young person has been absent from or their home circumstances Then a joint interview by the police and social care, or other appropriate agency, will be arranged.
8.3	Whether a joint interview of the subject is considered necessary or not, where missing from Home and / or Care Schemes are set up, the Police will inform the parents/carers to expect contact from those working within the scheme in order to carry out an independent interview with the returned child or young person.
8.4	When there are no such schemes in being and therefore no independent agency to conduct any interview, the police officer who conducts the 'safe and well' check will ascertain as far as possible, any child protection issues or concerns of the missing individual. Referral will be made to Social Care if there are any concerns. (See Appendix 5: Guidance to Carers)
8.5	The young person should be offered access to a further independent interview to assess their needs with regard to advice, information and support and to agree an appropriate response. The appropriate agency identified to conduct the independent interview will then make contact with the young person and their carer as soon as practicable and in any event within 72 hours. The young person's views should be taken into consideration in guiding the decision as to which agency might best offer the necessary "independent perspective". In the event the child/Young Person is 'Looked After' or subject to a child protection plan, the independent interview will be undertaken with 24 hours of the child's return and by their allocated Social Worker or a suitable children social care representative. This interview will be conducted in order to ascertain sensitively: the reason why the child went missing if there are any concerns regarding their safety or welfare where the child was during the period missing to establish if any concerns exist regarding the activity or treatment of the child or young person whilst absent and to agree a package of support to meet the needs of the young person The findings from the interview should be recorded in a completed Return Questionnaire (appendix 4) and will be from the perspective of a welfare check, and support for the child should focus on any concerns regarding their home or care environment or influences outside home, which may have caused the child to go missing. Confidentiality will be respected unless there is welfare, child protection or serious criminal issues. Where there are child protection concerns, these will be reported immediately to Social Care (if not already known) and the Police (See Appendix 4: Return Questionnaire) this should then be followed by a CAF within 48 hours. Each of the Merseyside areas has its own manual of procedures. Within these procedures there is specific guidance relating to children who go missing and are subject to child protection plans. (In Knowsley this is SCB Procedures Section 6.11, Children and Families who Go Missing)

9. Additional Procedures for Looked After Children

9.1	Prevention planning before the event All children who are 'looked after' by the local authority should receive age appropriate information which clearly explains: what procedure will be followed if they go missing that there is an expectation they will speak to a member of Children's Social Care and/a police officer on their return that where possible they will be offered the opportunity to speak to an independent person provided by the National Youth Advocacy Service (NYAS)
9.2	Prior to each accommodation arrangement for a child looked after, Children's Social Care must consider within the Care Planning process all the potential risks to the child including an assessment of the potential for them to go missing or run away. The child and his/her parent/carer should be involved in the assessment and planning process. It is strongly recommended as good practice that the local authority will retain a recent photograph and up to date descriptive form in relation to each Child Looked After. In Knowsley within 48 hours of a child/Young Person being 'looked after' a photograph and a personal description will be taken by the Foster- Carer/Residential Staff team member and a copy held on the respective child's record.
9.3	Information to be made available When reporting the matter to the Police, the carer, social worker or duty social worker will use the Personal Descriptive Form (See Appendix 3: Personal Descriptive Form) in order to make the following information available: which a description of the child (including clothing, jewellery, mobile phone if known) when the child was last seen and with whom a recent photograph family/friends addresses known acquaintances (including access to any vehicle) any previous history of running away or going missing the name and address of the child's GP, school and dentist circumstances increase the risk to a child should be drawn to the attention of the Police any health concerns and details of any medication e.g. the need for any time-based treatments i.e. diabetes legal status of the child or young person any action agreed or taken
9.4	Informing the press It is the responsibility of the Police to advise the media regarding a child or young person, missing from local authority accommodation, with close co-operation from the key agencies who have safety and welfare concerns. Unless considered urgent, this will be arranged at local level, by direction of the Area Commander (or nominee). Any decision to inform the press or media in relation to a child/young person 'looked after' will, again unless urgent, be made in consultation with the Service Director for Safeguarding and Specialist Services, Senior Managers from other agencies where appropriate and in partnership with the child's parents/carers in appropriate circumstances.
9.5	Recording Throughout the process identified within this protocol a full report must be kept of all actions taken and messages received/given. In the case of a child absent without authority from a residential establishment, this will be made in their log book. In the case of a child missing from a foster placement the carer should record in their incident/events note pad. There should always be a case note entered on the child's Social Care record (Integrated Children's System) about the incident, this may include a copy of log or note pad entries. This should include the decisions made and the rationale behind them. The Police will record all details of contacts and enquiries made as apart of the investigation into tracing, locating and returning of the child or young person.
9.6	The Return Professionals should carefully consider the circumstances of the return of the child/ young person to ensure that they are not being placed in a position of potential risk. If a child returns to a care setting of their own accord then this may be seen to be a safe setting. If the child is found then any signs of reluctance on the part of the child to return to their care setting should form part of a risk assessment before the child is returned or accommodated elsewhere. (See Appendix 2: Activation of Child Safeguarding Procedures) All family members and agencies informed of the absence will be advised of the child's return by the social worker. On the child's return his/ her medical condition should be discussed with the child and his/ her parents/carers immediately and an offer made to arrange medical attention if necessary. If the nature of the need for medical attention is, or has, the potential to be part of a Child Protection investigation then those procedures should be implemented. In all cases a social worker with knowledge of the child's circumstances or access to that information must meet the child alone the next working day following their return. A care planning meeting should then be held, chaired by a Children's Social Care Manager/Senior Practitioner and a copy of the record of that meeting should be made available to the Quality Assurance Unit and the Independent Reviewing Officer with responsibility for reviewing the child's care plan. In Knowsley the same process will be undertaken in relation to child/young people who are subject to a Child Protection Plan. In all matters concerning a child looked after or subject to a child protection plan, consideration should be given by the respective Independent Reviewing Officer, social worker and their Children's Social Care Manager whether a looked after child/child protection review conference should be convened earlier than the planned date.

10. Children - Longer or Significant Absences

10.1	After a child has been missing for 48 hours a Professional's (Strategy) Meeting will be held within 24 hours and reviewed within 7 days of the initial strategy meeting and as a minimum every 14 days thereafter until the child's safe return. This meeting will be convened by the Safeguarding Children Unit with all relevant agencies to develop a strategy/plan to find the child.
10.2	Frequency of meetings to review the situation will be locally determined depending on the child/young person's circumstances.
10.3	Senior officers will elicit a clear statement of the actions being taken in respect of the absence and should satisfy themselves that all that should be done is being done.
10.4	Whilst the child remains missing/absent, his/her case will remain open and allocated to a Social Worker.
10.5	All Police missing person's files will remain live until the person is traced. At no stage will a missing from home or absent from care report relating to a child or young person be filed until such time that they have been located and assessed as being safe and well.
10.6	Police Area Co-ordinators will pro-actively coordinate the management of individual cases and the PNC missing report will be renewed periodically. Duties of the Police Area Co-ordinators include maintaining regular contact with parents and carers.
10.7	Following the child's return a strategy meeting will be convened within 48 hours and chaired by a member of the Quality Assurance Unit to consider all information/risks and make a decision as to whether a further action is required under Knowsley's Safeguarding Children Procedures.

11. Monitoring Children or Young People Who Go Missing

11.1

Within Knowsley the Quality Assurance Unit Service Manager is the designated Senior Manager with a responsibility for monitoring the effectiveness of its missing from care/child protection plans and in respect of those children missing from home and home protocol.

These officers are responsible for reporting information to local Safeguarding Children Boards and local authority cabinets about patterns of children and young people missing from care and home.

11.2

Issues to be addressed in the strategic monitoring reports should include:

incidents of missing person's episodes
Location - are children more likely to be absent from some placements or areas than others?
Where do they run to?
child protection implications
actions when children return
practice and procedural issues (quality assurance).(p.12, DoH 2002)
compliance with this guidance

Appendix 1: Risk Factors

Factors to be considered in all cases should include

Risk of abduction
forced marriages (See SCB Procedures Section5.5, Forced Marriage)
bullying
medical considerations, e.g. Epilepsy/diabetes
age of the child
history of self-harm and/or mental health issues
home environment/family history
previously assessed level of vulnerability
time of day/night
pregnant teenager/teenage parent
physical/learning difficulties
previous history or patterns of going missing or running away
any agreement reached regarding staying out beyond the usual time
where the child is believed to be staying
his/her likely associations while missing
state of mind at time of going missing
any other particular circumstances at the time of the incident
concerns around sexual exploitation
length of time missing
children subject to a Child Protection Plan
any other relevant factors

Appendix 2: Activation of Child Safeguarding Procedures Flowchart

Click hereto view flowchart

Appendix 3: Personal Descriptive Form

Click hereto view Personal Descriptive Form

Appendix 4: Return Questionnaire

Click here to view Return Questionnaire

Appendix 5: Guidance to Carers

For 'looked after' children within residential homes and with foster carers, the child / young person may have an agreed time of return. There may be a number of reasons why a child/young person fails to return. For example, they may be pushing existing boundaries. As such, the child/young person is not officially missing at that time and it is expected that time will be given for them to return.

When considering whether to report a child/young person missing or whether this as an unauthorised absence, it is expected that the response will be that of a normal parent. Such a parent thinks about what to do having regard to a number of factors. Some of these factors would be:

knowledge of the young person
health issues, e.g. asthma, diabetes, disability, self-harm
age and understanding of the young person
whereabouts (known or suspected)
previous history / patterns
whether the child is on the Child Protection Register
whether the child is alone or with others
knowledge of the other children / young people the individual is with
what checks and enquiries have been and can be made
pro active efforts made to locate the child at known addresses/locations

Taking such factors into consideration a decision can be made as to a reasonable time to report a young person as missing, or to consider the absence as unauthorised.

Most parents wait a while before doing anything,' they wait and see'. Then, they normally search for the child/young person, either by phoning various people or actually going out to look. Clearly, for some looked after children/young persons there may be overarching reasons why such a normal process should not be entered into. There may be something in the care plan, which advises an alternative course of action, for example when a child/young person is in breach of bail conditions and the Police wish to be informed immediately. However, these should be the exception. These actions should be taken if at all possible by whoever is caring for the child/young person.

Basic information should be completed on the notification form then be provided to the Police. Consideration should be given to the locality of the Police station to the home address, and a decision may be made to personally hand in the form. At this point, a discussion should take place between the Police and the carer regarding any action to be undertaken and agreed (e.g. whether or not it is feasible / safe / reasonable for the carer or to conduct further searches, or who takes on this responsibility).

In relation to children / young people who are consistently going missing or absence is unauthorised, it is expected that a strategy / planning meeting should be set up to address any issues specifically relating to that young person and be attended by the carer. This is also true when there are specific concerns regarding a young person where there are concerns relating to their absence. Issues such as sexual exploitation should be considered and the protocol followed where appropriate.

The carer should carefully log the episode in the manor prescribed within procedures detailing actions taken by the carer throughout the period in question and following the child/young person's return.

The carer must also notify the following people:

Standby Service
An agreed named person identified with parental responsibility (this may be undertaken either by the carer or by the Social Worker/ Standby worker) as agreed with the parent / carer with Parental Responsibility at the admission meeting.
The allocated Social Worker (within office hours) - the Social Worker will be notified by Standby, from their record of notification and any involvement. It is however, good practice for the carer to contact the allocated worker on the next working day, and in their absence, should speak to their line manager.

Other issues for consideration are as follows:

if a child/ young person in a Residential Home goes missing, or it is suspected that s/he may go missing during the daytime, (revert to the above checklist) or as part of a previously agreed plan, it may be necessary for staff on the morning shift to make a record of what the young person was wearing when s/he left the home to enable the afternoon staff to give best quality information to the Police, should this become necessary.
The Police should see the young person on each and every occasion a young person returns from being missing.
All efforts must be made to find out the reason why the young person failed to return at the agreed time. This may be an issue for the young person's Social Worker as the young person may well be running away from problems at the home
during the course of the placement, ordinary photographs should be taken with the expectation that these may be used to supply to the Police in the event of a child going missing (see section under Specific Issues re Photographs)
carers should have a copy of the risk assessment completed by the child/young person' social worker upon placement which will assist in the overall issue of information gathering
a personal descriptive form should be completed when a child/young person is placed into care which can be used in the reporting process to the Police (See Appendix 3: Personal Descriptive Form)

Appendix 6: Merseyside Contacts Lists:

Social Services

Social Care contact details across Merseyside

KNOWSLEY
Office Hours	Out of Hours Pager system 07659 590081
LIVERPOOL
Office Hours 0151 233 3700	Out of Hours 0151 233 3700 (24 hr)
SEFTON
Office Hours 0151 934 3737	Out of Hours 0151 920 8234
ST HELENS
Office Hours 01744 456600	Out of Hours 08450 500148
WIRRAL
Office Hours 0151 666 5262	Out of Hours 0151 652 4991

Merseyside Child Protection Designated Nurses

Designated Nurses / Doctors have an overarching Child Protection responsibility across all NHS trust / sites within an LSCB area. The Designated Nurse Co-ordinates the circulation of missing child alerts.

Helen Stuart / Jill Pennington (Bebington & West Wirral PCT)
Senior Nurse Child Protection

Child Development Centre
Clatterbridge Hospital
Clatterbridge Road
Bebington
Wirral
CH63 4YJ

Tel: 0151 482 7893

Mobile: 07768 251582 (Helen) / 07990 590261 (Jill)

Fax: 0151 482 7892

Email: Helen.stuart@wirralpct.nhs.uk / jill.pinnington@wirralpct.nhs.uk

Jane Leather
Senior Nurse Child Protection

Sefton PCT
Burlington House
Crosby Road North
Liverpool
L22 0QB

Tel: 0151 920 5056

Mobile: N/A

Fax: 0151 949 0646

Email: jane.leather@seftonpct.nhs.uk

Julie Knowles / Sheila Glover
Named Nurse Safeguarding / Associate Matron Safeguarding

Royal Liverpool Children's NHS Trust
Mulberry House
Alder Hey Children's Hospital
Eaton Road
Liverpool
L12 2AP

Tel: 0151 228 4811 ext 2681 (Julie)

Mobile: N/A

Fax: 0151 252 5076 2973 (Sheila)

Email: Julie.Knowles@alderhey.nhs.uk and Sheila.glover@alderhey.nhs.uk

Ann Dunn
Designated Nurse Safeguarding Children

St Helens PCT
The Elms Annexe
Cowley Hill Lane
St Helens
WA10 2AW

Tel: 01744 627576

Mobile: 07917 001800

Fax: 01744 604084

Email: ann.dunne@hsthpct.nhs.uk

Lyn Rodgers
Senior Nurse/Designated Nurse Safeguarding Children

North Liverpool PCT
Regatta Place
Brunswick Business Park
Summers Road
Liverpool
L3 4BL

Tel: 0151 285 4671

Mobile: 07767 441892

Fax: 0151 285 4682

Secretary: 0151 250 3155

Email: lyn.Rodgers@liverpoolpct.nhs.uk

Trish Drew
Designated Nurse Safeguarding Children

Knowsley NHS PCT
Quality Assurance Unit
Twig Lane Clinic
Twig Lane
Huyton
L36 2LE

Tel: 0151 443 4216

Mobile: 07733 321935

Fax: 0151 443 4114

Email: patricia.drew@knowsley.gov.uk

Charlie Whelan
Senior Nurse Child Protection

Halton PCT
Kingsway Health Centre
Kingsway
Widnes
Cheshire
WA8 7QE

Tel: 0151 495 5071

Mobile: 07770 970863

Fax: 0151 495 5194

Email: Charlie.whelan@hsth.pct.nhs.uk

Greater Merseyside Connexions Partnership

In the first instance please contact the Connexions Team Manager in the appropriate area.

JOE LINNANE/DENISE LONGMAN
Liverpool City Connexions Centre

2nd Floor, Merseyside House
South John Street
Liverpool
L1 8BN

Tel: 0151 709 5400

Fax: 0151 709 4891

LINDA SHAW
Liverpool East Connexions Centre

Broad green Road
Old Swan
Liverpool
L13 5SQ

Tel: 0151 228 2285

Fax: 0151 228 1983

KERRIS BLANCHARD
Liverpool North Connexions Centre

Townsend Avenue
Norris Green
Liverpool
L11 5AG

Tel: 0151 270 2246

Fax: 0151 226 8204

MARGARET ROBERTS
Liverpool South Connexions Centre

1st Floor, Belmont House
Hunts Cross Shopping Centre
Speke Hall Road
L24 9GB

Tel: 0151 336 9400

Fax: 0151 486 9040

JACQUI KERR
Bootle Connexions Centre

Daniel House
Trinity Road
Bootle
L20 3RG

Tel: 0151 955 6300

Fax: 0151 933 2463

JUDY SMITH
Southport Connexions Centre

Dukes House
Mornington Road
Southport
PR9 0TS

Tel: 01704 504500

Fax: 01704 546112

JACKIE GALLIGAN
Huyton Connexions Centre

12-15 Lansdowne Way
Huyton
Merseyside
L36 9YS

Tel: 0151 949 5700

Fax: 0151 449 0017

JANE COLESBY
Kirkby Connexions Centre

142 Cherryfield Drive
Kirkby
Liverpool
L32 8RX

Tel: 0151 545 5400

Fax: 0151 549 2990

PHIL KELSALL
Bebington Connexions Centre

41/43 Bebington Road
New Ferry
Wirral
CH62 5BE

Tel: 0151 472 4600

Fax: 0151 472 4640

KEITH BILLINGTON
Birkenhead Connexions Centre

Conway Buildings
Conway Street
Wirral
CH 41 6JD

Tel: 0151 6664385

Fax: 0151 666 4407

SUE O'BRIEN
Wallasey Connexions Centre

Liscard Municipal Building
52 Seaview Road
Wallasey
CH45 4FY

Tel: 0151 638 5625

Fax: 0151 630 5361

GARRY OWENS
West Kirby Connexions Centre

56-60 Grange Road
West Kirby
Wirral
CH48 4EG

Tel: 0151 471 6020

Fax: 0151 471 6060

RITA LEYLAND
St Helens Connexions Centre

Alexandra House
Borough Road
St Helens
WA10 1RN

Tel: 01744 740000

Fax: 01744 740001

SUZY HARPER
Runcorn Connexions Centre

23 High Street
Runcorn
WA7 1AP

Tel: 01928 580220

Fax: 01928 580071

DAVID SZCZERBA
Widnes Connexions Centre

43 Albert Road
Widnes
WA8 6JA

Tel: 0151 422 9120

Fax: 0151 423 5741

To contact any of the above via email, please use the following format:

firstname.surname@connexions-gmerseyside.co.uk

Police Contacts

Police contact details across the 5 local authority areas of Merseyside

Merseyside Police cover the local authority areas of:
Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral.

For the purposes of reporting a child or young person, or indeed any person as missing, the following contact numbers should be used when alerting the police.

KNOWSLEY	0151 777 6995
LIVERPOOL North:	0151 777 4995
LIVERPOOL South	0151 777 5995
SEFTON	0151 777 3995
ST HELENS	0151 777 6995
WIRRAL	0151 777 2995
EMERGENCY	999
MERSEYSIDE GENERAL SWITCHBOARD	0151 709 6010

End