LEAVE SITE

New Multi-Agency Guidance Launched to Tackle Child Exploitation

Child sitting

We are pleased to announce the launch of our Multi-Agency Practice Guidance on Tackling Child Exploitation (CE) – a vital new resource designed to support all practitioners and partner agencies in enhancing our collective response to exploitation and safeguarding vulnerable children.

Child Exploitation is a complex and rapidly evolving threat. Addressing it effectively demands a proactive, coordinated, and holistic approach. This new guidance has been developed to strengthen collaborative working, improve early intervention, and ultimately protect children from harm.

A Holistic, Multi-Agency Approach

Recognising that no single agency can tackle exploitation alone, this guidance promotes joint responsibility and intelligence sharing. It is built on principles of partnership, professional curiosity, and child-centred practice.

By using this guidance, practitioners will be better equipped to:

  • Spot the signs of exploitation, including subtle cues and emerging patterns

  • Understand legal frameworks and safeguarding procedures that underpin effective safeguarding

  • Identify key themes, drivers and places of concern for early intervention and disruption

  • Work collaboratively to protect children and challenge the actions of perpetrators

  • Navigate the duality of harm recognising that children may be perceived as both victim and offender and addressing both elements in a trauma-informed way

Children who go missing from home, school, or care settings are especially vulnerable to exploitation. Perpetrators often target children through grooming, coercion and manipulation — reinforcing the urgent need for coordinated safeguarding efforts.

Training and Support

To help teams embed this new guidance into everyday practice, targeted bite-sized training sessions are now available. These sessions, ‘Bite-sized session: New Child Exploitation Procedures, Pathways and Tools’offer:

  • Real-world scenarios for exploration and reflection

  • Practical tools for early identification and disruption

  • Opportunities to build confidence in tackling exploitation collaboratively

These sessions can be viewed and booked through our website here.

Your Role in Safeguarding

As this guidance is implemented across the partnership, engagement is essential. The knowledge, insights and professional experience agencies bring to the frontline are instrumental in driving meaningful change and protecting children and young people.

We encourage all agencies and teams to:

  • Disseminate the guidance widely across their organisations

  • Reflect on how this can enhance current practice

  • Engage with upcoming training and implementation support