Child Criminal Exploitation and County Lines

The Home Office defines Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE) as:

Child Criminal Exploitation…occurs where an individual or group takes advantage of an imbalance of power to coerce, control, manipulate or deceive a child or young person under the age of 18. The victim may have been criminally exploited even if the activity appears consensual.

Child Criminal Exploitation does not always involve physical contact; it can also occur through the use of technology. Criminal exploitation often happens alongside sexual or other forms of exploitation.

Child Criminal Exploitation is broader than just county lines and includes for instance children and young people forced to work on cannabis farms, to commit theft, shoplift or pickpocket, or to threaten other young people.

County lines is a form of Child Criminal Exploitation. It is a term used to describe the activities of gangs and organised criminal networks who are involved in exporting illegal drugs into one or more importing areas (within the UK), using dedicated mobile phone lines or other forms of "deal line". These gangs exploit children, young people and vulnerable adults to move (and store) drugs and money, and they will often use coercion, intimidation, violence (including sexual violence) and weapons (County lines: criminal exploitation of children and vulnerable adults, Home Office 2018).

The adults running these networks remain at a distance from the frontline activity of drug dealing, reducing the risk of being caught and instead - they exploit vulnerable children and young people who are at high risk of significant harm transporting and selling drugs, often many miles from home.

Children and young people may be sent to another area of the country to live with a vulnerable adult whose home has been taken over by the gang in exchange for a continued supply of drugs. Please see chapter on Home Invasion. 

County lines activity is a dynamic and lucrative activity, and perpetrators will change their methods of exploitation quickly. As practitioners become more responsive to identifying children and young people at risk, the criminals adapt their tactics. For example, a young person who is exploited can leave the Service in the morning, sell drugs and return the same day and so avoid being reported missing.

There are high levels of violence and intimidation linked to county lines activity. Children and young people can be very quickly groomed into criminal activity, often before anyone realises what is happening.

All criminally exploited children and young people are at risk of neglect, emotional harm, sexual exploitation and abuse, as well as substance misuse and extreme forms of violence.

Any child or young person may be at risk of criminal exploitation, regardless of their family background or other circumstances, but children and young people who are Looked After or who are excluded from mainstream education are at increased risk of being targeted.

Like other forms of abuse and exploitation, county lines exploitation:

• Can affect any child or young person under the age of 18 years;
• Can still be exploitation even if the activity appears consensual;
• Can involve force and/or enticement-based methods of compliance (i.e. the receipt by the child and the young people of money / drugs or other goods) and is often accompanied by violence or threats of violence;
• Can be perpetrated by individuals or groups and young people or adults; and
• Is typified by some form of power imbalance in favour of those perpetrating the exploitation. Whilst age may be the most obvious, this power imbalance can also be due to a range of other factors including gender, cognitive ability, physical strength, status, and access to economic or other resources.

Perpetrators are known to target vulnerable children, young people and adults.  Some of the factors that heighten vulnerability include:

• Having prior experience of neglect, physical and/or sexual abuse;
• Being in care (particularly those living in children's homes and other accommodation and those with interrupted care histories);
• Social isolation or social difficulties;
• Connections with other people involved in gangs;
• Having a physical disability or learning disability;
• Having mental health or substance misuse issues;
• Being excluded from mainstream education, in particular attending a Pupil Referral Unit.

It is thought that 14-17 years is the most common age for children to be exploited but there are reports of children below the age of 11 years being targeted.

Boys are most commonly identified as being criminally exploited, but girls are also used and exploited. It may be that girls are identified by safeguarding children agencies because of concerns other than criminal exploitation while also being criminally exploited.

Some of the main warning signs that a child or young person is involved in county lines or being exploited are listed below, with those at the top of particular concern:

• Persistently going missing from their school/educational establishment or their Service and/or being found out-of-area;
• Noticeable changes in behaviour (these changes can be very rapid);
• Unexplained acquisition of money, clothes, or mobile phones;
• Excessive receipt of texts/phone calls and/or having multiple handsets;
• Relationships with controlling/older individuals or groups;
• Leaving the Service without explanation;
• Suspicion of physical assault/unexplained injuries;
• Carrying weapons/drugs;
• Significant decline in school results/performance;
• Gang association or isolation from peers or social networks;
• Self-harm or significant changes in emotional well-being.

When concerns about criminal exploitation have been identified, the young person's Placement Plan should contain details of the day to day arrangements which have been agreed between the Service and the accommodating authority to keep the young person safe.

Supporting Young People

• Building positive relationships with the young person is vital to preventing and identifying exploitation;
• Staff should be supportive and ready to listen to young people when and if they need to talk;
• Look beyond challenging behaviour, if young people are aggressive, secretive or going missing ask yourself what might be going on in their lives?
• When young people who are known to be at risk of exploitation go missing, this should be reported promptly to the police, their social worker and the local Children's Social Care so they can take action to locate them and return them to safety;
• Whenever young people who have been missing return to the Service they should be made welcome and offered care and support. Independent Return interviews should be offered in line with the Missing Procedure;
• Building strong links with education providers will help to ensure that the Service is notified promptly if a young person does not arrive at their education establishment as planned, and protective action taken if appropriate.

If any staff working in the Service have concerns that a young person is involved in, or at risk of involvement in CCE they should discuss these with the registered person. These concerns should then be shared with the young person’s allocated social worker, the young person’s Independent Reviewing Officer and also Children's Social Care/the police. If staff have concerns that a young person is in immediate danger, they should always ring 999.

All concerns and other relevant information should be noted in the young person's records so that any patterns over time can be identified.

Sharing Information

Sharing intelligence and information is crucial to preventing criminal exploitation in the local area. It is only by sharing data that agencies can develop an understanding of the prevalence, nature and scale of criminal exploitation and county lines activity.

An early, coordinated response to any young person who has been criminally exploited is really important for the young person, and other young person linked to them, including other young people living in the Service.

The Home Office has published guidance for safeguarding agencies in the Child exploitation disruption toolkit. The toolkit is primarily aimed at frontline staff, including law enforcement, social care, education, housing and the voluntary sector, working to safeguard children and children and young people under the age of 18 from sexual and criminal exploitation.

Young people’s needs and safety must always come first. This means that staff working in the Service should respond flexibly, even when young people are unwilling to engage. Relationships between young people and staff which are based on consistency, stability and respectful communication will help in supporting effective interventions with exploited young people.

When a young person presents with offending, or other concerning behaviour, staff need to be curious and compassionate and ask: What is happening in this young person’s life that is causing them to behave this way? What can we do to help them?

Young people who have been criminally exploited are the victims of crime (although they may not initially see themselves as such).

All practitioners working with the young person should consider the context of the young person’s behaviour as well as the impact (for example, trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), mental health issues or substance misuse), to help determine an effective response. This is particularly relevant for young people exploited through county lines activity.

Staff and managers should consider whether other young people living in the Service may also be at risk (exploited young people can be pressured to 'recruit' others). Any concerns should be shared with Children's Social Care and the allocated social workers.

For some young people a move to a different Service or more secure environment may need to be considered. This should be discussed with the young person, their parents if appropriate, the allocated social worker and the Independent Reviewing Officer.

For young people who are leaving care, the Personal Adviser should be made aware of the concerns so that they can continue to offer support post 18.

Legislation, Statutory Guidance and Government Non-Statutory Guidance

Protecting children from criminal exploitation, human trafficking and modern slavery (GOV.UK) - thematic report from Joint Inspections on the risk of child criminal exploitation. 

Criminal exploitation of children and vulnerable adults: county lines (GOV.UK) - Guidance for frontline professionals on dealing with county lines, part of the government's approach to ending gang violence and exploitation.

Child exploitation disruption toolkit (The Home Office) - Disruption tactics for those working to safeguard children and young people under the age of 18 from sexual and criminal exploitation.

County lines exploitation: guidance for practitioners (Ministry of Justice) - Practice guidance for Youth Offending Teams and frontline practitioners.

County lines exploitation: practice guidance poster (Ministry of Justice) - Note: not all processes included may be applicable to your local area, so please refer to your local CCE Pathway as well. 

Good Practice Guidance

Children and Young People Trafficked for the Purpose of Criminal Exploitation in Relation to County Lines a Toolkit For Professionals - (The Children's Society in partnership with Victim Support and the National Police Chiefs' Council) - a number of resources that may be useful for professionals when working with children and young people, their families and communities at risk of abuse and exploitation.