Permanent youth worker to be based in missing persons unit

Youth workers spoke to 52 missing young people after they returned home

A permanent youth worker will be based at a county's missing persons unit following a pilot scheme.

Specialist youth workers carried out follow-up visits for every young person who had gone missing during a three-month period in Northamptonshire.

The county's police, fire and crime commissioner's office (OPFCC) said none of the 52 people who were visited went missing again.

Three quarters of them accepted the offer of more support, the OPFCC said.

PFCC Stephen Mold said that young people who go missing increase their risk of being involved in crime

Augusta Ryan, the Northamptonshire OPFCC senior early intervention practitioner, said: "We wanted to let young people be heard, and to see if by listening and trying to find out what was wrong - and crucially, to help them solve those problems - we could prevent them going missing again.

"The pilot scheme with 52 young people gave us every indication that this approach really will stop someone going missing repeatedly."

The specialists visited every young person who had been missing three times or fewer soon after their return, as part of the pilot. For each case, there was also a statutory visit from the local council.

All the youngsters were aged at about 14 or 15, the OPFCC said.

A specialist youth worker from the PFCC will now be based within the force's missing persons investigation unit.

The Northamptonshire police, fire and crime commissioner, Conservative Stephen Mold, said: "When a young person goes missing, they massively increase the risk that they will become a victim of or involved in crime.

"This project is a splendid example of how we can intervene early to protect young people and I am pleased to see it has already been successful in supporting more than 50 young people."