5.4 Child Trafficking and Exploitation |
SCOPE OF THIS CHAPTER
This procedure has been developed to address concerns about the disappearance, following arrival in this country, of vulnerable children from abroad, by:
- Identifying and protecting those who may be at risk of Significant Harm through trafficking and exploitation;
- Preventing their disappearance from a placement as a looked after child by disrupting any organised activity to exploit children;
- Sharing information with a view to tracing children who have disappeared from their looked after placements.
The procedure applies to both accompanied and unaccompanied children, including asylum seekers, arriving in Surrey for whom there are concerns about safety.
RELATED READING
Working Together to Safeguard Children 2010 contains information about the National Referral Mechanism for trafficked children, which is a multi-agency framework designed to enable frontline practitioners to work together to identify and support victims of trafficking - for further information about this, please see paragraphs 6.58 to 6.62 of WT 2010.
This chapter should also be read in conjunction with the Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children Procedure and the Safeguarding Children from Abroad Guidance (accessible via the 'Guidance and Protocols' button on the left hand side of the screen).
See also:
Trafficked Children Toolkit, developed by the London Safeguarding Children Board in 2011.
'Safeguarding children who may have been trafficked', non-statutory good practice guidance issued by the Department for Education and the Home Office in October 2011; and
AMENDMENT
This chapter was reviewed and revised for the October 2011 edition of the manual.
Contents
- Immigration Officer's Role
- Initial Assessment
- Section 47 Enquiry
- Looked After Children
- Missing Children at Risk of Being Trafficked
1. Immigration Officer's Role
Immigration officers and others e.g. Asylum Screening Unit staff, who have contact with children following arrival in the country must refer to the Children's Social Care Services if, after assessment, they have concerns about the future safety of any child.
Concerns may arise because of the following:
- The child has false documentation (although this is not unusual and in itself not necessarily a reliable indicator);
- The child is unable to confirm which adult is going to accept responsibility for her/him;
- The person designated to collect the child is neither a parent, a relative or friend;
- The child fits agreed profiles (the value of which would diminish if made public) for those at risk of trafficking / exploitation.
Immigration will arrange for colour photographs and, where appropriate, fingerprints to be taken.
2. Initial Assessment
On the basis of information supplied by immigration, Children’s Social Care Services must conduct an Initial Assessment to decide:
- Whether arrangements for the child have been made by her/his parents;
- If there are grounds to accommodate the child;
- If the child is in need of immediate protection;
- If a Section 47 Enquiry should be initiated.
In undertaking this assessment and all subsequent work with the child, it is vital that a suitable interpreter is provided.
The child should be accommodated if:
- The child is lost or abandoned;
- There is no person with Parental Responsibility for the child;
- The person who has been accommodating the child is prevented, for whatever reason, from providing suitable accommodation or care.
If there is reasonable cause to believe that the child is suffering or likely to suffer Significant Harm, an Emergency Protection Order may be sought. Consideration should be given to using Police Protection in an emergency.
Where there are no grounds to look after the child, but concerns remain about her/his future welfare, Children’s Social Care Services must ensure that checks are made to confirm the intended place of residence, and adequate transport arrangements are available, with an escort if appropriate.
Contact must be made with the ‘receiving’ Children’s Social Care Services in the area where the child is intending to reside, so that further enquiries can be undertaken.
3. Section 47 Enquiry
If there is a risk of Significant Harm, the Police Public Protection Investigation Unit (PPIU) must be informed of the child’s arrival and all available information passed to the Police for checking.
A Strategy Meeting must be convened within 3 working days of:
- The child becoming looked after; or
- Arrival in the county where they are intending to reside if a Section 47 Enquiry is appropriate.
The meeting must:
- Share information – this will involve Immigration, PPIU, Children’s Social Care Services and any other relevant professionals;
- Develop a strategy for making enquiries into the child’s circumstances;
- Develop a plan for the child’s immediate protection, including the supervision and monitoring of arrangements (for Looked After Children this will form part of the Care Plan);
- Agree what information can be given about the child to any enquirers;
- Agree what support the child requires.
4. Looked After Children
A child at risk of being trafficked who is provided with care and accommodation must, where possible, be placed within the county in accommodation that provides the level of supervision proportionate to the need to protect them. This may include protection from possible abduction by an unidentified person and in some cases require surveillance cameras in operation around the home and the monitoring of telephone calls.
The location of the child must not be divulged to any enquirers until they have been interviewed by a social worker and their identity and relationship/connection with the child established, with the help of police and immigration services, if required.
Where appropriate and possible, steps must be taken to make contact with the child’s parents in the country of origin (immigration services may be able to help) to find out the plans they have made for their child and to seek their views. Steps must be taken to verify the relationship between the child and those thought to be their parent/s.
A Core Assessment of the child’s needs must be undertaken immediately by the social worker and residential worker/carer to include:
- Establishing relevant information about the child’s background;
- Understanding the reasons for coming to this country (so as to understand the child’s needs, not to determine her/his rights to enter the country).
Foster carers/residential workers must be vigilant about anything unusual e.g. waiting cars outside the premises and telephone enquiries. If they consider the child is in immediate danger, they must contact the Police straight away and pass on any information on the child (concerning risks to their safety), which emerges during the placement.
The foster carer/residential worker should complete as soon as practicable, an assessment of the child’s vulnerability according to the Missing Person Schedule supplied by the police (see Missing Children and Families Procedure).
Anyone approaching the local authority and claiming to be a potential carer, friend, member of the family etc. of one of the children, should be investigated by the social worker, the Police and Immigration Service. If the first line manager is satisfied that all agencies have completed satisfactory identification checks and risk assessments the child may transfer to their care.
5. Missing Children at Risk of Being Trafficked
If a Looked After Child, who is at risk of being trafficked, goes missing, residential staff/foster carers must immediately inform the child’s social worker, manager or EDT who must contact the police and immigration service.
The Missing Children and Families Procedure must be instituted.
End