Children exploited by gangs in lockdown 'most at risk of exclusion’ in September

Just for Kids Law is calling for schools to change their approach to child criminal exploitation so that it “always focuses on doing everything possible to safeguard and protect a child” amid fears of a spike in exclusions from next week.

The charity’s new report Excluded, exploited, forgotten: Childhood criminal exploitation and school exclusions states that not only are children outside of mainstream education, often due to exclusion, more vulnerable to criminal gangs but “children who have experienced exploitation will be more vulnerable to exclusion and may be disproportionately impacted by exclusion”.

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It adds: “This is particularly important at present, as most children have not been in school due to Covid-19.

“The widespread lack of protection that normally comes with being in school could mean some children have been experiencing exploitation during lockdown. There is a risk that these and other adverse experiences, and a lack of SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disability) support in lockdown may result in challenging behaviour which could lead to a spike in exclusions when schools reopen if children are not reintegrated and supported effectively.”

It adds that evidence collected from Just for Kids Law's casework suggests that some behaviour that leads to exclusion can be orchestrated by criminal actors as a part of furthering that child’s exploitation.

The most recent data from HMI Inspectors of Prisons shows that more than eight in 10 children in custody have been excluded from school.

“Unscrupulous gang leaders deliberately target children who have been excluded from school and are on the streets. Without the protections mainstream school affords, these children are inevitability more vulnerable. In some cases, Just for Kids Law has found that criminal exploiters purposefully engineer a young person’s exclusion, making them easier to control,” the report states.

It highlights that there is currently no legal safeguard for young people from school exclusion linked to criminal exploitation which means they can be forced to leave school for behaviour that directly resulted from their exploitation.

The charity is calling on the government to amend legislation relating to safeguarding and exclusion to offer more protection to victims to child criminal exploitation.

Enver Solomon, chief executive at Just for Kids Law, said: “The systems in place to support young people at risk of exclusion from school are failing, leaving them easy targets for those who seek to coerce and criminally exploit them. 

“The abuse, violence and emotional trauma associated with childhood criminal exploitation (CCE) destroys children’s lives. The government must act urgently to introduce safeguards to ensure the welfare of these children is protected, and the influence of their exploiters prevented, so they can move past their experiences and get the education they deserve.”