Ministers launch Child Criminal Exploitation Action Plan

Ministers from the Departments of Justice, Health and Education have today launched an action plan to address Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE) in Northern Ireland.

Education Minister Paul Givan, Justice Minister Naomi Long and Health Minister Mike Nesbitt today launched an action plan to address Child Criminal Exploitation.

The CCE Action Plan is a cross-departmental, multi-agency plan to improve the response of government to the criminal exploitation of young people and to embed this within the child protection system.

The plan is underpinned by the following agreed definition of CCE, which was developed jointly with children and young people.

‘Child criminal exploitation is a form of child abuse which occurs where an individual or group takes advantage of an imbalance of power to coerce, control, manipulate or deceive a child or young person under the age of 18 into any criminal activity.’ The full definition can be found here.

Justice Minister Naomi Long said: “The exploitation of children for criminal purposes may seem like a shocking concept and one which could not happen in a modern progressive society.  And yet this is happening every day in Northern Ireland. 

“This cross-departmental action plan enables us to implement measures to prevent the criminal exploitation of children and young people and to ensure an effective response when exploitation does occur.  We need to ensure that children and young people who are criminally exploited are recognised as victims and supported rather than criminalised.”

A significant number of actions under the plan will be led and facilitated by the Safeguarding Board for Northern Ireland (SBNI).

Health Minister Mike Nesbitt said: “Supporting and protecting our young people at risk of criminal exploitation or being exploited requires a whole-society response. This plan demonstrates a cross-Executive determination to tackle this important issue.

“The action plan includes commitments to develop training and guidance for professionals, risk assessment tools, agreed pathways into support services and resources and awareness raising programmes for young people and their parents and carers.

“This is the start of a process which will build capacity among safeguarding professionals to support our children and young people.”

Education Minister Paul Givan said: “Education has a key role in supporting young people at risk of, or being harmed by, criminal exploitation. Our teachers, classroom assistants and youth workers are uniquely placed to build trusted relationships with those at risk, identifying issues of concern and delivering positive interventions. However, they cannot do it alone.  The aim is to create a multi-agency, cross-sectoral response which ensures that our young people can thrive.  The development of a specific definition of Child Criminal Exploitation, that can be incorporated into policies and procedures, is an important first step.”

To support the launch of the action plan, the Executive Programme on Paramilitarism and Organised Crime (EPPOC) has launched the third and final video of its series aimed at improving the awareness of the impact of paramilitarism.

Over the last eight years, EPPOC has been supporting young people and today’s video, titled ‘Child Exploitation’, tells the story of a young woman who was groomed by paramilitaries when she was a child.

The evidence gathered by the programme shows the negative effects that criminal exploitation has on our communities, and particularly our young people. In particular, when young people are exploited, they can become both victims and perpetrators of harm, resulting in severe consequences for them and their families, friends and communities. The video can be accessed at the following link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNbxOToUECY

Notes to editors: 

1. The full definition of Child Criminal Exploitation, as well as the full Action Plan, can be found here.
2. The Child Protection Senior Officials Group (CPSOG) will be charged with monitoring progress of the CCE Action Plan. It is a cross-departmental strategic forum providing direction on existing or emerging child protection issues which require cross-departmental consideration and coordination.  It provides strategic oversight of a workplan that currently includes not only Child Criminal Exploitation but also extends to Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE), Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), online safety, medical assessments in relation to suspected non-accidental injuries, information sharing as well as any other emerging issues that need consideration.  The group is chaired by the Deputy Secretary for Social Services Policy in the Department of Health, and other core members include senior representatives from the Departments of Health, Justice, Education, Finance and Communities.
3. The case study video, whilst fictional, is closely based on extensive research into the experiences of young people collected by Dr Colm Walsh (X/Twitter: @colmw37) from Queen’s University, Belfast (@QUBSSESW) for research funded by the Executive Programme on Paramilitarism and Organised Crime (@endingtheharm). This research can be viewed at endingtheharm.com/about-us-old/news-research/

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