Examining what factors affect inter-agency working in missing children investigations

Waring, Sara ORCID: 0000-0003-1625-5705, Monaghan, Paige ORCID: 0000-0002-2759-887X, Yates, Amy, Girgiel, Nikola, Giles, Susan ORCID: 0000-0002-3435-3010 and O'Brien, Freya ORCID: 0000-0001-7765-3147 (2023) Examining what factors affect inter-agency working in missing children investigations. POLICING-A JOURNAL OF POLICY AND PRACTICE, 17. paad044-.

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Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>Despite responsibility for missing children belonging to multiple agencies, police perceive this to be falling heavily on their shoulders, placing substantial demand on finite resources. Drawing on thematic analysis of 24 interviews conducted with police, local authority, social service, and care home staff from across three UK boroughs, the following study seeks to identify what factors facilitate and hinder inter-agency working in the prevention and response to missing children and why. Findings highlight that inter-agency working is facilitated by having ‘direct points of contact’ across agencies to facilitate information sharing. Inter-agency working is hindered by ‘inconsistent definitions of missing’, limited ‘understanding of roles and responsibilities’, ‘service demand’, ‘technological issues’, ‘fear’, and ‘discrepancies in responses to missing’. Evidence suggests that partnership working would be facilitated by improving shared understanding of missing, roles and responsibilities, and having direct points of contact across agencies.</jats:p>

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Patient Safety, Clinical Research, Behavioral and Social Science, Prevention, 8.1 Organisation and delivery of services, 8 Health and social care services research, Mental health
Divisions:	Faculty of Health and Life Sciences Faculty of Health and Life Sciences > Institute of Population Health
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	13 Jun 2023 15:55
Last Modified:	02 Apr 2024 09:26
DOI:	10.1093/police/paad044
Related URLs:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3170906