- Who it is for
- Young people experiencing or at risk of criminal exploitation.
- Setting
- Multi-agency safeguarding contexts.
- Funding stream
- Safeguarding · exploitation and missing budgets · VRU early intervention
What this work is
Child criminal exploitation works by exploiting need — for belonging, status, money or safety. A young person being exploited is a victim of abuse, even when their behaviour is criminalised. Our work starts from that truth and never loses sight of it.
We support young people experiencing, or at risk of, criminal exploitation, providing the consistent trusted-adult relationship that exploitation deliberately undermines, while working firmly within the safeguarding systems around the young person.
How we deliver it
Through Presence · Power · Purpose we build the safety and trust that make disclosure and change possible, then support a young person towards a sense of agency that exploitation has tried to take from them. Relationship is the intervention.
This work is delivered in multi-agency safeguarding contexts. We share information appropriately, contribute to safeguarding plans, and act as a steady, named presence alongside social care, police and education partners.
What this looks like in practice
- Trusted-adult relationship through exploitation risk
- Contribution to multi-agency safeguarding plans
- Support around missing episodes and transitions
- Appropriate, careful information sharing
Commissioning and referral
This work is usually funded through safeguarding, exploitation and missing budgets, or VRU early-intervention spend. We deliver as a named trusted-adult relationship within a safeguarding plan, as targeted support around missing episodes and transitions, or as part of a multi-agency response to a contextual safeguarding concern.
Referrals come through social care, exploitation and missing teams, the police and education safeguarding leads — and we accept contact from families, working with partners to sit the support within the right framework. We contribute to plans and reviews, and we are clear and careful about information sharing throughout.
Every service runs through our Presence · Power · Purpose programme model. You can also see the externally recognised Making Hayes Safer case study for an example of community youth-violence work in practice.
Frequently asked questions
Do you treat exploited young people as victims or offenders?
As victims of abuse. Child criminal exploitation is exploitation of a child’s needs, and we hold that framing even where a young person’s behaviour has been criminalised, while working within safeguarding processes.
How do you work with other agencies?
We work within multi-agency safeguarding contexts — sharing information appropriately, contributing to safeguarding plans, and providing a consistent named relationship alongside social care, police and education partners.
Can families refer directly?
Yes. Families can contact us directly, and we will work with the relevant safeguarding partners to make sure support sits within the proper framework.
Related services
To discuss commissioning this service, or to refer a young person, get in touch — we acknowledge every message within one working day.
Enquire about commissioning