A child or young person under the age of 18 years is considered ‘missing’ if they are:
- Missing from home
- Missing from care
- Part of a missing family - including children on the Child Protection Plan
Parents, family members, carers or guardians are expected to make all reasonable attempts to find the child and return them to their home address or placement and are expected to undertake the following basic measures to try and locate the child if considered safe to do so:
- Search bedroom/house/outbuildings/vehicles
- Contact the missing person via mobile or social media
- Contact known friends and relatives where the child/ young person may be
- Visit locations that the child is known to frequent if it is safe to do so
- Check social network sites
- Contact local hospitals
What you can do
Report the child as missing to Merseyside Police via telephoning 101, or in cases of an emergency, 999.
If the missing child is in care, the child’s social worker should also be contacted on 0151 443 2600.
Parents who do not inform the police or social services when a child is missing could find this becomes a child protection issue.
All agencies should consider the risk factors outlined in the Merseyside Missing Policy.
For further information, contact Children Services on 0151 443 2600.