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

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.