Understanding Missing From Care episodes, CY P03 25 04

Research into young people who go missing from children’s care settings in the UK is crucial due to the heightened vulnerability of this group. Young people in care often face complex challenges, including past trauma, instability, and social marginalisation, which can increase the likelihood of them going missing. These episodes can expose them to significant risks, such as exploitation, abuse, or other forms of harm. Understanding the circumstances surrounding these incidents – and in particular any patterns that they display – is vital to informing prevention strategies, improving safeguarding practices, and developing evidence-based interventions to support at-risk youth, enhancing their safety, stability, and well-being.

Bradford Children’s Trust in partnership with the Bradford Local authority have approached the research team to request help in analysing the data associated with Children in care who go missing. In addition, ongoing discussions with West Yorkshire Police via the National Police Chief’s Council have highlighted that better understanding missing from care episodes is both a regional and national priority for policing. Insights drawn from all analyses will be fed back to both these services to ensure evidence-based support for children in care is directed where it is most needed.

Building on previous research examining missing persons, the proposed project seeks to examine the characteristics and trajectories of young people in care who are recorded as having one or more episode of being missing. These will subsequently be compared to those of children who have not been missing to establish whether there are any systematic differences between the two groups. The project will initially utilise children’s care data relating to the characteristics of young people in care, including assessments and levels of intervention, with the aim of identifying whether some characteristics are more predictive of missing episodes than others. In the second phase of research, harnessing the unique power of Connected Bradford’s data linkage, we will draw on linked education (for instance absence, and exclusion) and health data (namely A&E admissions and YAS 999 callouts), to assess whether interactions with other services may provide additional utility in identifying those individuals at most risk of becoming missing.

07/04/2025

1 year