Wirral Missing from Home and Child Exploitation Service

Works with young people under 18-years-old across The Wirral who are missing from home or care, or experiencing or at risk of child exploitation.

Missing from home and care

This service works alongside young people, their families and the police to find out what has caused them to run away and prevent them from running away again in the future.

Help is provided for young people who have run away who are at risk of:

• becoming involved in crime to survive, from stealing to criminal gang involvement
• drug and alcohol misuse
• mental and sexual health issues
• exclusion from school and failure to meet educational milestones.

After each missing episode, a face-to-face interview with the young person is conducted after 48 hours, during which a needs-assessment is conducted.

Child exploitation (CE)

Comprehensive screening and assessment of young people is conducted to identify CE risk and incidence, followed by programmes of intervention which enable young people to reflect upon and recognise CE.

The service offers training to groups of young people (preventative and targeted) as well as professional training to members of the children and young people’s workforce.

Parents, carers and families can find guidance on spotting the signs of CE here (PDF).

Learn more about Catch22’s approach to preventing CSE.

Work with other agencies

Located within Wirral’s multi-agency safeguarding hub (MASH), Catch22 works in partnership with the Wirral local authority social care service and Merseyside Police.

Further information

• Visit the Listen to My Story website for further information about CSE for parents and professionals in the Merseyside area
• Go to the Catch22 Stay Safe Facebook page
• Visit the Victim Care Merseyside website.