Families say they have been “ignored and abandoned” by wider support services when their children are groomed by county lines gangs, a new report by the Commission on Young Lives has found.
Barnardo’s Interim Co-CEO Michelle Lee-Izu said:
“The pandemic made children more vulnerable to criminal exploitation, and criminal gangs adapted their ways of working using the online world.
“Too often exploited children are not being identified as victims, and in some cases they are being criminalised instead. To address this, we need consistent understanding from the police and those working in health and social care about how children are exploited and how best to support them.
“We urge the Government to take action to protect child victims by introducing a legal definition of child criminal exploitation, to make it easier for police forces and other agencies to recognise this abuse and ensure victims access the right support. We are also calling for enough funding for a family hub in every community, to help keep teenagers safe, and to step in before families reach crisis point.”