Repeat missing child reports: Prevalence, timing, and risk factors

Abstract

PurposeThere are around 200,000 reports of missing children each year in England and Wales, and around 65 per cent of these relate to repeat disappearances. Such repeat disappearances are a social care and policing concern due to the multiple risks that children are exposed to while they are missing from home, including exploitation, substance misuse, and violence. Understanding the characteristics of children who go missing repeatedly could help services protect them and meet their needs more effectively. Design/methodology/approachThis study uses police records to explore the characteristics of missing children (<18 years) from one Welsh local authority over a five-year period, and the prevalence, timing, and risk factors associated with repeat missing incidents. FindingsThere were 1,434 children reported missing and 4,922 missing episodes in the city between 2014 and 2019. Thirty-nine per cent of children were reported missing more than once, and these children accounted for 82 per cent of all missing child reports. Logistic regression found that children who were White and living in residential care were more likely to be reported missing repeatedly. Over half (57 per cent) of the children who were reported as missing more than once were reported missing for a second time within two months of the first incident. OriginalityThis study highlights the volume and quick succession of repeat missing child reports. It provides evidence about some of the risk factors associated with repeat missing episodes.