Children who go missing from family home, place of care or education procedure & guidance

A child or young person going missing from home, their place of care or education establishment can be an indicator for a range of harm. Children who go missing are at an increased risk of being abused and/or exploited with the reasons for the children going missing often being complex. This means that those involved with children who go missing, need to ensure that missing episodes are not viewed in isolation to the child’s situation and considered alongside all aspects of their life.

DSP has developed a procedure and practice guidance document (December 2025) to support practitioners to ensure that effective responses are in place when a child goes missing and what you need to do when a child goes missing. It also assists in their understanding of the Return Home Interview (RHI) process and where a referral into the Missing and Exploited Group (MEG) is required. 

DSP Procedure and Practice Guidance for Children and Young People who go missing from their family home, their place of care or educational establishment [PDF Document]

Additional Statutory Guidance.

GOV.UK - Statutory Guidance on children who run away or go missing from home or care [external link]

Philomena Protocol

The protocol is a Durham Constabulary initiative to help locate and safely return a young person who is missing from a residential home/foster care as quickly as possible when they are missing. The basis of the scheme is for vital information about the young person to be recorded on a form which can be used to locate them quickly. The form should then be stored safely either in electronic format or a printed version. The Police will then ask for the form, or the information recorded on the form, in the event of a child going missing. 

See flyer for more information.

See also Philomena Protocol Training Presentation for further information [Powerpoint]