Safeguarding children at risk from criminal exploitation: CASPAR briefing

The Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel is responsible for overseeing the review of serious child protection cases in England.

The Panel became operational in June 2018 and published its first annual report¹ and its first national review² in March 2020. This national review focused on safeguarding children at risk from criminal exploitation.

Between July 2018 and March 2019, The Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel received rapid reviews concerning over 300 children who died or suffered serious harm as a result of abuse or neglect. The Panel identified 21 adolescents from 17 localities who died or were seriously harmed within a context of criminal exploitation.

Our briefing summarises:

• common features of the young people identified
• approaches to identifying and assessing children at risk of harm through criminal exploitation
• current approaches and service responses to managing the risk
• recommendations to government and local agencies.