Welcome
..to the 3rd edition of our TREES newsletter.
I’d like to start by thanking you all for your continued commitment to following the SSCP exploitation pathway. Despite the current restrictions, we are still seeing a steady stream of risk assessments being sent through.
Further lockdown measures have brought additional challenges for all of us.
This includes one of the emerging themes we have seen in the past quarter –
exploiters have been forced to use and develop different methods to target our children. More details of this have been provided in the Emerging Themes article on Page 7.
Our main feature this month is a powerful piece which a parent has kindly
shared with us – this is well worth a read, as it provides a hard-hitting insight of one family’s experience of CE in Shropshire.
Clare Jervis
Exploitation and Missing Lead
Compass Exploitation Team
[email protected]

How does the pathway work?
Exploitation reduced in young person’s life and across Shropshire
Panel
Multi-agency meeting occurs monthly. Case overviews are provided, which inform strategic decisions and disruption tactics across
the county Initial Assessment Tool submitted for individual child Intelligence Report Form submitted regarding groups, hotspots or individuals
Support put in place to aid understanding and reduce risks for the young person
Locality Meetings
Multi-agency meetings for separate areas across Shropshire, to consider associates and hot spots
Triage
Multi-agency meeting, occurs bi-weekly. Risk level is decided, and
appropriate support services are considered

Mapping Meetings
Multi-agency meetings convened by allocated social workers to explore known associates, this provides a picture of vulnerabilities and aids potential disruption options

A Parent’s Story
Parental experience of Child Exploitation in Shropshire
False names have been used to protect identities
My son, Aaron, was 14 years old when he started on the path to being exploited. With hindsight, the first signs were demerits at his school, which resulted in detentions that increased with time. I hadn’t any concerns about Aaron and his learning prowess; he had always been an able student and his school
reports consisted of As and Bs and maybe the odd C. He engaged in football, cricket and tennis as extra-curricular activities. He was a sweet, caring boy who had had an unfortunate start in life (which I won’t outline only because I feel that it will make him identifiable). This start in life though, did make him
a vulnerable target with the wrong people. He warmed to my partner who I met when Aaron was 9 years old. He took on my partner’s love of entertaining people and making them laugh, becoming the class joker to an extent. Whilst still at primary school, I remember Aaron being proud to call my partner ‘Dad’ at
a school event. They became close in their high jinks and sense of humour, which was lovely to see.
It was the last term of Year 9 that the demerits were becoming a concern. By that time, he had lost interest in sports and I remember writing to the school to encourage them to divert his energy lost in mischief to getting him involved in sports again. He played tennis a couple of times after school but none of his friends were interested in sport either. It was during this time that I think he was introduced to smoking and cannabis use, though I didn’t know at the time. I remember receiving an alarming phone call from the school right at the beginning of Year 10 to say that Aaron had been involved with a group of boys in an incident where a brick had been thrown at a private address in the town of his school. Then, Aaron was involved with an incident where a child’s scooter had been taken from a local park. I was called in for a meeting in that October with the school to discuss Aaron’s bad behaviour and where it was leading, hinting at exclusion. Aaron wanted to spend increasing amounts of time away from home, staying at friend’s houses overnight. Equally, I encouraged him to have them stay over at home too. His love of money seemed to be growing and there appeared different items of clothing, which they apparently they swapped between their mates at school.

My partner and I and our families have always had a strong work ethic and we tried to encourage this with our children. So Aaron duly got a paper
round, which gave him some responsibility and a taste of working for his money. Mowing the lawn for a tenner was not enough for Aaron. Getting up for the paper round at the weekends was tough for him— he was a typical sleep-loving teenager (or so I thought).
Then came the bombshell that Aaron was engaged in smoking cannabis with his friend. I had searched his bag and found evidence of weed use. I became acquainted then with weed paraphernalia. I learnt what a bong was when I caught him with a plastic bottle with an aperture in his bedroom. I contacted the
local drug advisory team who elaborated on the signs of exploitation and what I should do if I thought he went missing. This was all new to me. Then in January, Aaron was excluded with 2 mates for smoking cannabis outside the school and subsequent paraphernalia being found on their person. Until the
exclusion of 5 days, Aaron hadn’t missed a day of school, apart from when ill. This period of exclusion seemed to set a precedent for the remaining time at the school – school seemed to become a choice then in Aaron’s mind. The paper round job also fizzled out after the exclusion.
Aaron said he used cannabis because he was depressed, but wouldn’t say specifically what about.
Following the exclusion, I made an appointment with the GP for Aaron to elucidate my concerns. No medication was prescribed but a referral to CAMHS was made (one of many but Aaron didn’t want to engage). I persuaded Aaron to take up boxing after school, and he enjoyed this initially and was told he showed great promise. However, the lure of his school friends again made him disinterested in
continuing. After the 5 day exclusion, the local drug advisory support team became involved with Aaron, and he willingly engaged with them. Then, he found it increasingly difficult to catch the school bus on time and started to not want to go to school. It was during this time (the final term of Year 10), that he
later admitted to me that he had contemplated suicide. The stress of him missing the bus actually led me to change my working hours for Year 11 so that if needs be I could drive him to school myself.
I considered at the time, what was causing Aaron’s demotivation to attend school, his falling grades and his depression. I looked at his impulsive behaviour and lack of focus and questioned whether he might have Attention Deficit Disorder (I still wonder about it to this day but no-one would formally diagnose
him without backing of the school). I also looked at a genetic medical condition that is strongly represented in our family. I just couldn’t understand how things could change so much with his demeanour and attitude to learning and
authority. Was he just a very rebellious teenager, I asked myself? He became increasingly distant with me and my partner, not wanting to engage in
conversation and shutting himself in his room, when he was home. He had blocked me on social media and then stopped answering his phone when I rang him when he was out. He was spending increasing amounts of time out with his
friends and returning home later and later in spite of my demand for him to be home. When he came home, he would go straight to the toilet and I would hear him on his mobile. I also noticed the redness of his eyes sometimes. On a couple of occasions, he had groups of friends to stay and there was evidence of
cannabis use. I informed their respective parents (those whose numbers I knew).
I had been engaging with Early Help in order to get advice about Aaron’s evident weed habit. I started to read up on cannabis and side effects and concluded that it was not good for a teenage brain and could cause paranoia. I thought to myself that perhaps Aaron just needs an occasional crutch at the moment to
cope with his early years experiences. I tried to outline the effects of prolonged use to him (and his friends) but it just seemed to go in one ear and out of the other. Nevertheless, Aaron told me he wanted to work hard at school and get his GCSEs at the start of year 11. I was full of hope for a fresh start at school for the final year and a new Head was in place. But on the very first day, I received a phone call
from the school to say that all of the pupils, including Aaron, with a non-regulatory Peaky Blinders style haircut, were to be excluded for a day from school. This action actually caused a lot of ill-feeling and inequality as the exclusion didn’t seem to include those pupils who were in football teams. Later, the
school back-tracked on this stance and actually decided that the haircut was very smart – but the damage had been done. Aaron felt he was picked on by the school and this only seemed to validate his feelings.
The school contacted me about concerns over a conversation that had taken place during a lesson with Aaron and another pupil about ‘crack cocaine’. At that point in time, I believed it was just bravado and aimed to impress. A safeguarding concern was made to Social Services by a teacher. Then the following week or so, I was contacted by police to say that Aaron had posted on social media about threatening a pupil at the School and making a reference as to ‘you know who I roll with’. I asked the police officer if I could bring Aaron in for her to give him a stern warning about this behaviour and to also remind him that partaking in cannabis was against the law in this country and could result in a prison sentence. Aaron didn’t seem to respect the police officer and spent the interview looking at his feet for most of the time. Aaron seemed to be anti-police and anti-authority. I did not recognise the person he was becoming. It was not simply a teenager displaying typical teenage behaviour, but a whole mind-set of behaviour I had
not encountered within my family before. Then in late September, I was searching Aaron’s room for a lost PE folder. In tidying up, I came acrosssome small sachets of white powder, neatly placed next to a BMW car key. My anxiety levels went
through the roof. In my mind, this had turned into an extremely serious and dangerous issue, from an
external source and out of my control. I needed to protect Aaron from being involved in distributing a
possible class A drug. I just couldn’t believe this was happening to Aaron, and that he was involved in illicit
activity of this order. I contacted Early Help in desperation. She advised me to seize the pouches and key
and challenge Aaron with her when he returned from school.
A Parent’s Story
False names have been used to protect identities
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I didn’t foresee what was to happen next after confronting Aaron. He took his backpack and left the
house against advice, and then Early Help contacted police to report that a vulnerable child was now
missing. Ultimately, this led to his arrest and an overnight stay in custody. That was one of the longest
nights for me and I felt dreadful that my action of involving Early Help had possibly led to him getting a
police caution! The next day, my daughter had to act as the responsible adult during a police interview
with Aaron. Again, this marred their relationship for a considerable time afterwards as Aaron saw this as
collaborating with the police against him. In addition, the police seized his mobile phone, which meant
that I had no means of contacting him unless I purchased another one, which I did. Little did I know that it
would be another 8 months before that mobile was able to be collected from the police station. Everyone
who has children can understand how attached they are to their mobiles and seizing Aaron’s mobile
created yet more angst in addition to ‘shopping Aaron to the feds’ as he saw it.
Aaron’s behaviour became increasingly more challenging from this point onwards, and our relationship
and that of my partner’s with Aaron became very fractious. He refused to attend school on occasion and
there were several uncomfortable interviews with Aaron and the school about his behaviour, and in
particular about not conforming to school uniform regulations, preferring to wear a hoodie instead of his
school blazer. He was told that he was heading for permanent exclusion if he didn’t abide by their rules.
Social services became involved with us and a Child in Need Plan was instigated, the purpose of which
was to help safeguard Aaron from contextual adverse influences. The plan involved contacting the police
if Aaron went missing at any time and I was not aware of his whereabouts. There was a knock on the
door one day and it was the owners of one of the local off-licences. They had video evidence of Aaron
with 2 other youths entering their premises and stealing alcohol. I paid them for the alcohol that was
taken in the incident and apologised for Aaron’s behaviour. Another time, I was texted by a parent who
had video evidence of Aaron and another youth damaging their garden fence. Aaron went round to
apologise on this occasion and agreed to pay the cost of repairing the fence out of his pocket money. He
became increasingly distant from the family, choosing to stay out and returning on the last train. The 101
calls that were made when Aaron didn’t reply to my calls and texts, served to heighten the friction
between us. This was exasperating, especially as only on one or two occasions over the next 4 months did
the police actually locate Aaron and find out whom exactly he had been with. The 101 call actually meant
that I spent the night being up, having police contact through that time and then Aaron would return
himself the next day and the police would then do a safe and well check.
I spent a lot of time during these dark months listening outside Aaron’s door for relevant information
about his activities. I felt like a detective for a lot of the time. I would pace the streets of the local towns,
looking for him, worried out of my mind. I would try and catch him at the local train stations to see who
he was hanging around with. I remember waking up on a December morning to find that he was not in
his bedroom at 6am. I immediately rang 101 and it transpired he had been with an ex-school friend (he
had been permanently excluded from school) at his home. It also became evident that Aaron had
become close to this family and that all those evenings I had been pacing around the streets looking for
him, he was with this family for at least some of the time! I was informed by my police contact that he had
told this family all about his Adverse Childhood Events. It was at this Local Authority housing that a raid
the following January seized a gun, knife and class A and B drugs!
There was one particularly memorable missing episode the evening before Christmas Eve where Aaron
left me a note to say he was going to a party and staying over and not to contact the police, signing it with
a kiss. I rang and spoke to him and he said that he was perfectly fine and not to call the police. I was in a
position then, as I had often been in, of the dilemma of calling the police (as I didn’t know his exact
location or the people he was socialising with) or not to. The question loomed as always, which action
would actually cause him more harm. The following day, however, he had not returned by late afternoon.
He was not answering his mobile or any texts. His friends were not able to say where he was either. So I
contacted the police, sick with worry. Aaron returned home of his own accord that evening. He was
extremely volatile as I had contacted the police and exclaimed that he was in a gang and if I continued to
A Parent’s Story
False names have been used to protect identities
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to report him missing, that he would be shot or
stabbed. That same evening he threatened to slash
my partner in the face as he tried to reason with
him. His demeanour was unrecognisable and it was
then that I started to describe Aaron as an alien son.
Of course, now I realise he was pumped full of
drugs, including MDMA and Xanax. It was at this
point too that I contacted SPACE in order to gain
support from other parents who found themselves
in this nightmare situation where family life and relationships were torn apart.
I was advised by police that if I felt threatened by
Aaron in my home, then I should not hesitate to
contact them. This never happened, though Aaron
was controlling me in that he did what he wanted to now and I tried to keep calm and not react to him.
He was possessed almost by outside forces mitigated by drug use, which was escalating. Another horrible
incident occurred after I had upset Aaron in the kitchen; he had accidentally dropped a plated meal from
the fridge and according to him I thought he had done it on purpose (paranoia kicking in). His anger spilt
over into his bedroom and I discovered that he had punched a hole in his wardrobe and with his blood
written on the mirror ‘f*** you’ or similar.
As I mentioned before, there was a raid on the house that Aaron had been frequenting. Following this
raid, Aaron became the subject of a Child Protection Plan in late January. During the meeting, the school
informed participants (including myself) that it had been reliably informed by a pupil at the school that
Aaron had been stabbed in the leg. Police interviewed Aaron at my home later that day, and he denied
that he had been stabbed. The situation had just become a whole lot worse for us in that, the reality of
Aaron being seriously hurt because of the activities he was involved in, namely debt bondage, was really
hitting home. Moreover, I knew nothing about Aaron being stabbed! The missing episodes seemed to
increase after the raid and Aaron introduced a new friend who stayed over. It was with this friend, who
was a year or so older than Aaron, that he was found to be with after being reported missing from school.
This friend came over late evening most nights it seemed and I was finding plastic pouches in Aaron’s
room. The conversations that I heard from outside Aaron’s room became more agitated and I could hear
him being harassed by men for money that he owed for drugs.
It was during one early hours of the morning conversation (sleep for me was fitful with the constant
anxiety about Aaron and his activities), that I heard him being asked exactly what time he would be at the
train station later that day. Previously, I had heard this same youth demanding money from Aaron and
moaning that he was late with his payment. Sure enough, later that day Aaron went out. I had a very bad
gut feeling that Aaron was in danger. I immediately contacted the police on 101 and told them my
concerns. The police officer suggested to me that I follow him, if I was that concerned. At that point, the
frustration with the uselessness of these successive so-called safeguarding plans was never more
poignant. I felt alone and hopeless. All I could do was wait for Aaron’s return (as I had done so many
times before). Then, miraculously Aaron returned with two friends at around 8pm – early for him. I was
so relieved. The next morning was the usual battle to rouse him to go to school – he had about a 60%
attendance rate at this point. I reminded him that it was nearly half-term anyway and to make an effort to
go. Amazingly, he did go. But mid-morning whilst at work, I received a call from the school to say that
Aaron’s cheek and eye were swollen; he had told them that he had walked into a lamppost. I immediately
got leave of absence from work due to the situation and went to collect him from school. They reported
that he was totally distracted and on his mobile constantly. I was shocked when I saw Aaron as it looked
to me as if there could be an underlying cheek fracture. I took him to A&E (after some persuasion by a
neighbour that I called on to help) and we waited for 2 hours to be told that he didn’t need an x-ray as all
A Parent’s Story
False names have been used to protect identities
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his reflexes were intact. We drove back home and Aaron immediately went out. Over the next few days
all the bruising came out and his eye almost closed up. It was obvious that he had been assaulted and he
admitted this some months later. Again, he denied that anything untoward had happened to police.
Over the last few weeks since the stabbing incident, the Social Worker allocated to us insisted that Aaron
needed to move away from his home, school and friend network for his own safety. I was tasked to find
willing family out of the area that would look after him.
I was told that if I didn’t find anyone who they deemed suitable, then Aaron would be taken into care and
I would share parental responsibility with the Local Authority. This process was brought to a head on the
day that the police decided to raid my home. They found no drugs but seized his replacement mobile
phone and new iPhone that I had bought him for Christmas. They also took a weighing machine. After
this incident, Aaron was extremely angry with me; he blamed all police intrusions on me as I had involved
the authorities at the outset. He asked for a lift to the local town and it was during this car journey that he
said he was going to kill himself in the next few days. I called the police in desperation and they
eventually took him into police protection overnight. That was the last night that Aaron was home for
another 5 weeks; it would have been longer only lockdown curtailed his stay due to relatives needing to
shield due to health issues.
And so the whole debacle ended in a very unsatisfactory way. I cannot tell you the utter heartache that
ensued with the instigation of the so-called Child Protection Plan. Aaron was now ensconced in a home
where he didn’t want to be, away from all that was familiar to him. In his mind, not only had his mother
‘shopped him to the feds’ but now I had totally rejected him by removing him from his home. Only 10
days into his stay there, he made a suicide attempt by taking an overdose of sleeping tablets. At least this
action actually helped to get Aaron a psychiatric assessment sooner rather than later. Their finding was
that he felt isolated from his friends but that there was no psychosis evident. With the Covid lockdown,
and having kept my parental responsibility, I made a joint decision with Aaron’s carers to bring him back
home. Of course, Social Services were not in agreement, feeling that he should remain where he was for
the 3 months of lockdown in order to safeguard him. Lockdown was actually the true beginning of our
healing journey as a family, when all the damage of the whole grooming process and then so-called child
protection policies, could be repaired. As our relationship recovered, Aaron was able to talk to me about
his childhood and we were able to fill the gaps in his knowledge to make him feel more complete.
Many thanks to the parent who kindly shared this insight with us.
A Parent’s Story
False names have been used to protect identities
Support Resources for Parents
The charity Missing People are offering a Safe and Social-Support group for families and carers of
exploited children – this is an online nationwide event taking place via Zoom, with dates taking place in
February and March. Tickets need to be booked to attend, but these are free of charge. The group is
facilitated by staff, and attendees can say as much or as little as they wish. To find out more, visit:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/safe-and-social-support-group-for-families-and-carers-of-exploited-childrentickets-124103578143
For more information on the charity providing this event, please visit: www.missingpeople.org.uk
The following organisations are also a great source of support for parents and carers:
SPACE (Stop & Prevent Adolescent Criminal Exploitation) – www.bespaceaware.co.uk
PACE (Parents Against Child Exploitation) – www.pace.uk.info
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Hot Spots
Recent referrals and intel have identified the following areas of concern. Disruption tactics will be considered as part
of regular triage, locality and panel meetings, but if you
hear about or witness anything concerning in these areas,
please be alert and report any concerns using the Intelligence Report Form (link provided on back page)
• Cae Glas Park, Oswestry
• Shifnal – Telford/Midlands train line
• Ludlow train line
• Quarry Park, Shrewsbury
Police have now put together a Planned Patrol
Operation for this area, following concerns around
ASB and potential CE. The operation includes regular
patrols by officers, with support from the Children’s
Society (Climb) to help identify and divert at-risk
children, and engage with groups of young people to
document any activity of concern.
Current patterns and emerging themes
Exploitation referral figures are analysed each month, to gain a picture of Exploitation in
Shropshire – this information can then be used to identify what is going well, and what needs
improvement. This data is reflected in monthly, quarterly and annual reports.
Between October 2020 to December 2020, we have received a total of 113 referrals. Within this amount,
we have observed the following patterns and themes:
• The number of new referrals has almost doubled compared to the same time period last
year (71 this year, 46 last year)
• The number of new referrals who have been assessed as vulnerable is 78%, compared to
48% for the same time period last year. This suggests is that professionals are recognising
the key indicators of exploitation much earlier, enabling us to focus on preventative work
and preventing escalation.
• Boys continue to be the largest proportion of all new referrals, with 61% compared to 54%
female. We know from discussion with the NWG that this is a pattern which is being seen
nationally, highlighting the need for a criminal exploitation pathway.
• Cannabis remains the main substance used for many young people, with some talking
openly about wanting to be involved in criminal exploitation as a way of making large
amounts of money. Cocaine and Nitrous Oxide have also been mentioned, with MDMA also
remaining a concern.
• Violence linked to exploitation and drug debt has increased, including an increase in
children carrying knives – suggesting that schools may need to consider a whole-school
approach to tackling this issue through the support of the ‘Steer Clear’ programme.
Lastly, we have seen rising numbers this quarter of online harm, with perpetrators using
platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat & Tik Tok in the early stages of grooming for the purposes of
exploitation. One example of this is a Skrill app account, similar to a PayPal account where significant
amounts of money have been deposited. We have also seen examples of children being given
significant amount of money to hold in their accounts for unknown people, which has raised concerns
that organised crime gangs will be continually trying to identify more sophisticated means of exploiting
young people, especially while COVID-19 restrictions are in place.
“During lockdown criminals continued to cynically groom children through promises of cash, friendship, drugs
and status which may have seemed particularly appealing to vulnerable young people experiencing feelings of
isolation, and challenges at home.”
– James Simmonds-Read, National Prevention Programme Manager, at The Children’s Society
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Child Exploitation Consultation Sessions
Do you have a particular young person who you would like to discuss in more depth? If so, we are
offering monthly consultations on the first Tuesday of each month, between 2pm – 4pm.
Next available dates:
2
nd March 2021
6
th April 2021
4
th May 2021
1
st June 2021
6
th
July 2021
Sonya Jones (We Are With You), Carrie O’Keefe (Branch Project), Jo Smith (Education Access Service),
Stafford Mason (Early Help) and Clare Jervis (Exploitation & Missing Lead) will be on hand to offer advice &
support regarding all CCE/CSE queries.
To book your ½ hour slot, please email [email protected]
Targeting Stage Experience Stage Hooked Stage Trapped Stage
Just a Child article
Update from Sonya Jones, We Are With You Shropshire Team Manager
As mentioned in the Autumn edition of TREES, Sonya took part in a Cross Parliamentary Group in
September 2020 to discuss how cannabis is used as a gateway drug to recruit and exploit young people.
An overview of the recommendations which Sonya shared is discussed in the following article named
“Just a Child” on the Drink and Drug News website. The article also includes comments on gang culture by
Dr. Paul Andell, who was also a speaker at the event.
To read the article, please visit: www.drinkanddrugsnews.com/just-a-child
It’s also worth following We Are With You on social media, where useful resources are regularly shared:
wearewithyoushropshire wearewithyoushropshire @withyoushrops
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The trials and tribulations of Court during a pandemic
By Lucia Malin, Team Manager, Shropshire YJS
Like all statutory services, the Youth Justice Service was thrown into disarray back in March 2020 and
have had to quickly adapt to a new way of working with our most vulnerable (at risk of or involved in
Child Exploitation children) to ensure they are still being offered the best possible support and most
appropriate intervention and disposal/order to meet their assessed needs.
An area that I would particularly like to share this month is an area that makes up a significant part of
our work within Youth Justice, and is an area where we see some of the most risky and vulnerable young
people in the county come through our service – working with young people at court and those who have
been arrested, and are refused bail who then appear before court ‘remand’ where exploitation is of
significant concern, either for those children residing in Shropshire or young people who appear in Court
who are out of area.
So. what part do we play and what has been the impact of Covid?
The Youth Court
Pre-Covid, the Youth Court for all Shropshire and Telford young people would sit every two weeks at
Telford Magistrates Court. These are the cases of young people who have been arrested and have denied
the offence in interview – meaning they cannot have a caution or diversionary outcome and offences that
are ‘so serious’ they must to be heard by a court or go to trial. Back in March 2020 we were advised that
all courts would be closed until further notice until a virtual platform could be explored.
Remand
Pre-Covid, any young people being arrested and charged with offences ‘so serious’ that bail is being
refused are transported to Kidderminster Magistrates Court. A YJS Officer would attend and support the
young person and advise the court via an assessment/report or proposal in order to divert a child from
receiving a custodial sentence. When the nation went into lockdown, this became very complex as youths
were taken through the system with little support, as courts closed their doors to contain the virus and
young people remained in local police cells for extended periods until they could appear via a video link.
YJS have worked tirelessly to find a way to make contact with extremely vulnerable young people and
have been using both video calls and talking to young people via mobile phones within the police cells in
order to help them understand the process and support their emotional and mental health needs/
welfare. It’s important to highlight that we also work with significant numbers of young people that come
through the area who have been arrested for offences such as possession of substances with Intent to
Supply, knife and firearm related offences, to name but a few, who are detained from areas such as the
London Boroughs and the West Midlands. These young people have clearly been trafficked, exploited and
are often displaced, some with a positive NRM status. Unfortunately many of these cases are not
diverted from custody. Youth bail hostels do not exist and unfortunately we do not have our own
accommodation to place young people.
Crown Court
Crown Court as continued to run and remains open but very ‘scaled back’ to reduce the risk. I am advised
that the back log is described as ‘huge’, and trials are now being listed for 2022! – cases for youths are, by
law, to take priority and have specific timelines. However, this has not always been possible as Courts
need to find a way to ensure there are enough hearing dates. It is difficult to imagine the impact that this
has had on those individuals who are remanded within prison settings and who are awaiting a trial who
potentially could be not guilty and who are often victim’s themselves. The YJS are often battling to ensure
that Youths are not detained within a custodial setting due to the significant lasting trauma this has upon
them and the significant impact and effect this has on their emotional and mental health needs.
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Some good news!
Despite the backlog of over 150 Shropshire YJS cases, the Shropshire Team have worked alongside the
youth magistrates to ensure all the young people have had their cases heard and have received an
outcome. This has meant preparing paperwork, writing reports, liaising with families to provide half hour
timeslots ensuring young people have PPE and offering emotional support to both them and their
families. Courts have been running weekly throughout the day since June in order to clear this backlog.
The Youth Justice Service do not have a specific court team and the impact of this work has been
significant but we are proud that we are now in the position where we can say that no young people have
the added pressure/anxiety or trauma of waiting for their case to be heard and we have been able to
advise courts of the most appropriate outcomes for those young people.
Also, we now have a virtual platform. This is the CVP (court virtual platform), the app allows you to join
remand courts virtually via a link sent to a secure email. Youths appear from police cells and are able to
see us and the court. We continue to ensure that we liaise with Police and Children’s Services as soon as
we are aware of any Young People being held in Police cells to get them moved from this environment as
soon as possible.
Moving forward
A positive aspect of the lockdown is that we have had the chance to take a step back and reflect on
working with young people appearing at an often fast moving court. We have developed a monthly virtual
zoom meeting with Youth Magistrates – these have been fantastic in building better relationships and
understanding of the roles we play. Moving forward, the meetings will be themed, whereby we discuss
areas such as, NRMs, the JDMP process, trauma and reflect on individual cases for learning and
development. These are proving to be very positive and we hope to develop these to incorporate
speakers from other agencies in the future. We know that there is a long way to go in regards to ensuring
that young people are supported when there is no other option than to detain them, but we are making
progress and are able to challenge and reflect on how we can address best practice for all of our children.
For any further information about the service, call us on 01743 261841, or email us at
[email protected]
As police intervention and disruption increase, young people may be likely
to plug drugs in their anal cavity or vagina to transport them, so that these
aren’t found if they are subject to a stop-search by police. This may also
occur with other items such as a SIM cards. The practice can also be used as
a way to use certain drugs, due to the high that the user may receive from
doing so. Unfortunately we have already seen some cases of this practice
within Shropshire, so it is important for professionals to be vigilant and
aware that this may be a possibility with any young people who use drugs,
or who are potentially being exploited. This is a very dangerous practice as it
can lead to a number of health complications.
Compass Exploitation Team and We Are With You are currently working
with NHS partners to consider how to raise awareness amongst
professionals who work across NHS services. Social workers and other
professionals are also encouraged to ask young people whether they have
ever inserted drugs inside them, when there are drug use or exploitation
concerns.
Raising awareness around plugging of drugs
11
The Branch Project is here to support children and young people who
have been sexually exploited (CSE) or where there is a risk of sexual
exploitation.
The child/young person needs to have consented to the referral being
made to The Branch Project. Once consent has been obtained a
support and safety assessment will be completed with the child/young
person and relevant protective adults in their life. The assessment will
inform the individual support pathways for the child/young person.
The support pathways consist of Cope (advocacy inside and outside of
the criminal justice process) Empower (education/upskilling) Recover
(psychosocial interventions) Branch Project engagement is not time
limited; this is to ensure that support can be tailored to the needs of
the individual child/young person.
The key outcomes that we would hope a Branch client leaves the
service with are: An understanding of sexual exploitation/sexual
abuse and how and when to seek help, protective internal and
external support networks, self-advocacy skills, to be empowered to
act, support to access the criminal justice process, and a positive
sense of self and future aspirations.
As Branch Project Workers we offer children and young people referred into the project an independent and safe, specialist worker to
speak to. Branch Project Workers are here to listen, and we accept
children and young people for who they are.
Some of the young people we work with have told us that they are
worried they will have to talk about their feelings or things that they
might find uncomfortable. We make sure that young people are never
under any pressure within Branch Project sessions to share anything
more than they are comfortable with. The children and young people
we work with have access to our supportive and educational
resources. These are always delivered in agreement with the Branch
Project Worker and the child/young person.
We begin our support sessions with an initial meeting where we explain more about The Branch Project. We listen to what is important
to the child or young person. If they decide to work with us the child
or young person can choose what type of support is right for them.
We treat everybody as an individual and recognise that every child
and young person will be facing their own personal challenges. All our
support work is tailored around the individual young person we are
working with.
Branch Project Values
SUPPORT – The support is there to help.
EMPOWER – We will not tell you what to do or how to fix your
problems. We support you to decide what you want to do.
ADVOCATE – Our job is to support your voice to be heard when
you feel like people are not listening.
BELIEVE – We will believe you.
The Branch Project recognise that due to the impact of Covid-19 it is
even more important to maintain a consistent and accessible
approach to support. Branch Project Workers are continuing to
provide a blended approach to support, consisting of face-to-face
appointments (in line with a robust Covid-19 Risk Assessment)
secure online 1:1 appointments and telephone support.
To make a referral to The Branch Project, visit:
https://www.wmrsasc.org.uk/referral
How Can We Help?
12
Useful Links
Child Exploitation Initial Assessment Tool – To be completed if you have concerns about a particular
young person, consent must be gained from the child or a parent for this to be completed.
Child Exploitation Intelligence Report Form – To report information about activity, perpetrators,
hotspots or vehicles. Evidence or consent is not required for this.
http://westmidlands.procedures.org.uk/local-content/4cjN/exploitation-tools-and-pathways/?b=Shropshire
SSCP (Shropshire Safeguarding Community Partnership) – www.safeguardingshropshireschildren.org.uk
Early Help – www.shropshire.gov.uk/early-help
West Mercia Police – www.westmercia.police.uk
We Are With You – www.wearewithyou.org.uk/services/shropshire
Branch Project – www.wmrsasc.org.uk/the-branch-project
Climb – www.childrenssociety.org.uk/what-we-do/our-services/climb
NWG – www.nwgnetwork.org
Services offered by
For support or advice, please contact [email protected]
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