Repeatedly Missing Children: Multi-Agency Partnerships for Safeguarding and Prevention in England and Wales

When some of our most vulnerable members of society go missing, they are exposed to different risks and possible harms while unsupervised in the community posing a significant demand on police forces, social services, youth worker teams, education and health providers. This important text looks at how different agencies manage and investigating missing children to give them a safe space, ensure they thrive, and that they do not suffer unnecessary harm or exposure to the criminal justice system.

Examining the breadth of missing children’s investigations, from when the call is first made to the police to when the case is disposed of through diversion to other, multi-agency agencies, author Kirsty Bennett provides practical scenarios and examples to help develop critical thinking while working within the field of missing children. With key takeaways and reflective questions included at the end of each chapter to indicate practices that can incorporated into daily working, this is a dedicated, contemporary resource on different elements of the management and investigation of missing children. While focused on the UK, there is scope to apply the principles and approaches of best practice more widely to international practitioners involved in the management and investigation of missing children.

Designed as an accessible and comprehensive resource for numerous practitioners in policing, youth and social work, education, this is also appealing reading for student and teachers of policing and criminology in higher education.

Kirsty Bennett is Senior Lecturer in Policing and Criminology at Leeds Trinity University, UK. Kirsty is an active researcher in unsolved homicides and missing persons and produce evidence-based research for a range of audiences which is helpful for practice and policy. Most of her time is spent working with the families of long-term missing persons and unsolved cases.