Dear

Please find attached a new Sussex Police reporting procedure for missing children.

This new guidance will take effect in June 2017.

This procedure reflects recently revised national guidance for the police service. Guidance which reaffirms that an effective response to missing children is a joint responsibility.

The police are entitled to expect that parents and care providers take reasonable steps to locate a missing person prior to making a report to the police.

As part of the revised procedure,when you contact Sussex Policeto report a missing child or young person, you will be asked two questions at an early stage of the call:

  1. Why are you worried about this person?
  2. What has been done so far to trace them?

In relation to the second question this could include:

  • attempts to contact the child
  • calling friends or family
  • visiting areas that the child is known to frequent
  • visiting the place where the child was known to be attending, e.g. a friend’s house or party
  • checking to see if any items are missing from the home.

Note: If there aregenuine concerns as to the child’s immediate safety it will always be appropriate to report the matter to Sussex police and this should be done without delay.

However the police receive many reports of missing young people, where there are no apparent risk factors, and often no police response is expected. This is most likely to be applicable in one of two scenarios:

  1. A young person is routinely ‘testing’ curfew arrangements by returning home a bit later than usually allowed, and;
  2. Situations where the young person is known or believed to be at a certain location but refusing to return home.

In such circumstances,andwhere there are no apparent risks (e.g. known risk of CSE, substance misuse, involvement in crime…), you need to consider whether a call to the police is appropriate, without first taking steps to resolve matters yourself.

If you need further support to help make your decision, or to take appropriate steps to trace the young person, your first phone call should be to the young persons’ social worker, key worker, your duty manager, or EDT.