Nearly 400 vulnerable children went missing from council care over five years

There have been more than 380 incidents of missing vulnerable children in council care in the past five years.

One child went missing for just over a year in 2019, and at least six children were off the radar for more than 20 weeks before being found.

They included one unaccompanied asylum seeking child who was missing for 21 weeks in 2019.

Since 2018, Lincolnshire County Council cared for at least 237 vulnerable children, of which 13 were unaccompanied asylum seeking children. None were refugees.

Freedom of Information data shows that the majority of missing children were reported in 2020, when 110 vanished from the council’s sights.

The majority were found in less than a week, however, 13 were missing for more than a week.

Jo Kavanagh, assistant director for children’s services at Lincolnshire County Council, said: “Keeping vulnerable children safe is a priority for the council, including those in our care.

“We cannot comment on specific cases, but the vast majority are isolated incidents, and the children are located safe and well in a short period of time.

“In a very small number of cases, children may be missing for longer periods, and the council and Lincolnshire Police have clear mechanisms for responding to such incidents to ensure the child is found as soon as possible.”

She added that incidents were followed up by interviews and investigations to identify steps needed to prevent future incidents.

Josie Allan, a representative at the charity Missing People, said children who went missing may be being exploited or trafficked, running away from abuse or may be experiencing a mental health crisis.

“It is concerning to see that any children have been missing for such long periods of weeks or months. We know that going missing is often a warning sign of serious harm,” she said.

“While missing they are at serious risk and are unlikely to be accessing any support.

“We would encourage anyone who is worried about a missing child, or who is missing themselves, to contact our helpline on 116000 for free, non-judgemental support.

“We would also like to see every agency that works with unaccompanied asylum seeking or refugee children to work together to prevent them from going missing, and to support the search and bring them to safety quickly if they do go.”

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