Children missing from home or care

Share this factsheet with staff to make them aware of:

• Why they need to be alert to the possibility of children going missing
• What signs to look out for that a child might go missing
• The safeguarding issues involved
• What to do if they suspect a child has gone missing

You could either use it as a basis for talking about the issue at a staff meeting, or send it round for staff to read themselves. Before you share it, make sure to edit the 'What to do' section to add your school's procedures for following up on unexplained absences.

Want to make it more interactive? Use these questions to start a discussion:

• What opportunities do our pupils have to talk to us about problems they are experiencing at home?
• Why do you think looked-after children are at particular risk of going missing?
• How long should we search for a pupil who we think has gone missing before alerting the police?
• Can you think of pupils who you would consider to be at risk based on the factors shared in this factsheet? What support might they need?
• How would we find out that an adult close to a pupil has gone missing?
• What might prevent our swift reporting of a child’s absence? Is there anything we should do to improve our systems?
• How do we minimise the risk of pupils being abducted?
• Which other areas of safeguarding does this topic overlap with?