Missing from home

JSNA > Starting Well


Local authorities are responsible for protecting children whether they go missing from their family home or from local authority care. The Statutory Guidance on Children Who Run Away or Go Missing from Home or Care 2014 sets out the steps local authorities and their partners should take to prevent children from going missing and to protect them when they do go missing.

The motivation for young people to go missing includes family conflict, relationship issues, neglect, child abuse or domestic abuse at home.

In County Durham, the majority of young people who go missing are not Looked After Children, but children missing from their own home.

The documents we publish on this page are either legally required to be made available for inspection, for information and analysis purposes or may have been supplied by the public and so in some cases may not be fully accessible. If, for any reason, you cannot access the documents and need an alternative format, please email ina@durham.gov.uk.

Factsheet: Missing From Home Factsheet (PDF; 502Kb)

Key messages

  • In 2016/17, County Durham had 42 children go missing from care for a period of 24 hours or more, for 114 separate episodes in total,
  • During the period 2015 to 2017, there were 1,176 missing children episode reports from home and care in County Durham, received from the Police, involving 526 young people,
  • The age range of these young people who were missing was 11 to 18 years old, with the most common ages being 16 to 17 years old.

Links