More than 2,000 children disappear in social services care each year, report finds
Last year, around 2,400 children who were victims of trafficking or came to the UK alone to seek asylum went missing while in the custody of local authorities.
The data, released on Tuesday, which charities said revealed widespread faults in the system, also revealed that these groups of children were at particularly high risk of sexual or criminal abuse or other harm if they went missing.
It sounds like this Independent and the charity Missing People are continuing their SafeCall appeal, which aims to raise £165,000 for a new free service offering support and safety to the 70,000 children reported missing each year.
The report, carried out by children’s rights organization Every Child Protected Against Trafficking (ECPAT) UK and Missing Persons, was based on Freedom of Information data requested from children’s services departments in the UK.
donate Here or text SAFE to 70577 to donate £10 to Missing People, enough for one child to get help.
Jane Hunter, head of research and impact at Missing People, said: “The alarming rates of trafficked and unaccompanied children disappearing from care shows that effective measures for these children are often not available.
“Every child deserves to feel safe and protected, but trafficked and unaccompanied children are repeatedly failed by the systems that care for them. This report is a stark reminder that urgent action is needed to prevent these children from disappearing and ending up in dangerous situations.”
Ms Hunter has called for systemic reform and wants all trafficked and unaccompanied children to be given appropriate accommodation. It also calls for increased awareness of the National Referral Mechanism, the framework for identifying and reporting victims of human trafficking.
“These steps are critical to closing the loopholes exploited by traffickers and restoring confidence in the care system,” he added.
The report found that 2,638 children in local authority care were identified or suspected of being trafficked in 2024 alone. Of these, 864 children were reported missing, accounting for 37 percent.
In 2024, 1,501 (13 percent) of 12,530 unaccompanied children in local government care went missing; This rate increased by 2 percent compared to the previous year.
The report stated that unaccompanied and trafficked children have been at high risk of disappearing in the last decade, but there has been a constant failure to protect these children.
Laura Duran, head of policy at ECPAT UK, said: “These children are not just statistics; they are individuals who have already suffered unimaginable trauma. When they disappear from care, they are at further risk of exploitation.
“The UK government must ensure that the policies they propose do not further increase these risks and must instead focus on effective safeguards to protect children from harm.”
The report claims that many systems currently in place in the UK, including the unsafe immigration system, further increase this risk for children. Previous research has shown that uncertainty about a child’s right to remain in the UK often contributes to their deprivation of care.
The report also noted that not all local authorities responded and the actual figures were likely to be higher.
A government spokesman said: “This government inherited a children’s social care system that failed to meet the needs of the country’s most vulnerable children.
“The landmark Child Welfare and Schools Bill is the biggest overhaul of children’s social care in a generation, delivering on our mission to break the link between young people’s backgrounds and future achievements and ensure every child in our country, including those in care, has the opportunity to thrive.
“This includes improving the availability of care placements, better information sharing, requiring the establishment of multi-agency child protection teams in all areas and introducing a new duty on partners to automatically include education and childcare settings in safeguarding arrangements to help prevent children from falling into vulnerability.”
Please donate now To the Independent and Missing Persons’ Safe Call campaign, which aims to raise £165,000 to create a free, nationwide service to help vulnerable children find safety and support.
If you or a loved one is lost, text or call the charity Missing People on 116 000 for advice, support and options. It’s free, confidential and non-judgmental. Or visit www.missingpeople.org.uk/get-help
