News and insight
Guidance, updates and stories for foster carers, kinship carers and the professionals who support children in care
County lines and child criminal exploitation: what every carer needs to know
When a child in your care starts coming home late with a new phone, unexplained cash or a group of older "friends" you have never met, it is easy to put it down to teenage life. Sometimes it is. But sometimes it is the first sign that an adult is grooming that child to carry drugs, money or weapons for them. This is child criminal exploitation, and county lines is one of its best-known forms.
What the law and guidance say
The Home Office describes county lines as gangs and organised criminal networks moving illegal drugs into one or more areas of the UK using dedicated phone "deal lines", and exploiting children and vulnerable adults to move and store drugs and money. Its guidance is clear that a child can be criminally exploited even if the activity appears consensual, and it names children in or leaving care, especially those placed out of area or in semi-independent accommodation, as being at heightened risk.
The law has now caught up. The Crime and Policing Act 2026, which received Royal Assent on 29 April 2026, creates a specific offence of child criminal exploitation. It is committed by an adult who engages in conduct towards a child intending to cause the child to commit a crime, carries a maximum sentence of 10 years, and the adult cannot defend themselves by saying they did not know the child's age. The Act also creates a separate offence of "cuckooing" (taking over someone's home for criminal purposes). These new offences are being brought into force in stages, so check your local safeguarding partnership for current guidance. The message behind them is simple: exploited children are victims, not criminals.
Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026 reinforces this, making clear that safeguarding means protecting children from harm within or outside the home, including online.
What the evidence tells us
The Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel's 2020 review, "It was hard to escape", looked at 21 boys who died or were seriously harmed through criminal exploitation. Fifteen were from Black or minority ethnic backgrounds, and the Panel concluded that boys from these backgrounds appear more vulnerable to this harm. Seventeen had been permanently excluded from school, which practitioners and families saw as a trigger for risk escalating sharply. The review also found that trusted relationships with adults, and involving families in safety planning, made a real difference.
For carers of Black and mixed heritage boys, this matters. These children can be seen as offenders rather than victims, which delays the help they need.
What it means day to day
- Know the signs: going missing, unexplained money, gifts or phones, new older friends, injuries, changes in mood, and links to unfamiliar areas.
- Stay close: keep talking, stay curious rather than punitive, and let the child know you will keep them safe, not get them into trouble.
- Act when a child goes missing: follow your missing-from-care protocol and report it. Statutory guidance says a return interview should normally be offered by an independent person within 72 hours of the child coming back.
- Record and share: write clear, factual notes and share your concerns with your supervising social worker straight away.
- Think beyond the home: contextual safeguarding looks at the places and peer groups where harm happens, such as parks, transport hubs, schools and online spaces.
Courses that help
County Lines and Contextual Safeguarding (£25) is a short, narrated e-learning course for foster carers and supervising social workers. Across five modules it explains county lines, cuckooing and debt bondage, why some children are targeted, the stages of grooming, contextual safeguarding and what to do when a child goes missing. It ends with a 12-question quiz and a certificate of completion.
It is also part of our Safeguarding and Online Safety bundle (£79 for five courses), which also covers digital clues, safeguarding across global communities, multi-agency safeguarding under the 2026 Act, and safeguarding and culture in assessment. It is ideal for foster and kinship carers, residential care staff and social workers.
Exploiters rely on adults not noticing. Be the adult who notices: enrol on County Lines and Contextual Safeguarding today and help keep the child in your care safe and close.
Leave a comment