“They’re not seeing young people as victims of exploitation”: Multi-agency responses to the criminal exploitation of children in Wales 

About the webinar:

Despite the UK’s robust child protection policies and approaches to modern slavery, there is no specific legislation or statutory guidance to address the criminal exploitation of children. Rather, it is considered under existing provisions under the Modern Slavery Act 2015. Yet, frontline workers seldom suspect British children of being victims of modern slavery. It is widely believed that new legislation and a statutory definition will address the lack of coherence in service responses where “safeguarding partners are working to different understandings of what constitutes criminal exploitation” (The Children’s Society, 2021:1) and where local authorities have ‘given way’ to the police (Jay Review, 2024:77). This is particularly problematic in Wales where policing and justice are under the UK Parliament’s jurisdiction whilst social care, health and education have been devolved to the Welsh Government. Drawing on findings from an Action for Children funded study which examined professional perspectives about multi-agency approaches in Wales, this session will provide an overview of focus group findings from two local authorities and results from a Wales-wide survey regarding what works and what needs improving to enhance a multi-agency safeguarding approach to criminally exploited children. 

Presenters:

Dr Nina Maxwell is a Principal Research Fellow at CASCADE, a chartered psychologist, and mixed methods researcher with expertise in adolescence, workforce development, and private family law. She is a Principal Research Fellow at CASCADE.

Her research focuses on improving outcomes for young people, with studies spanning adoption, youth violence, child criminal exploitation, and father engagement. She currently leads a study on service responses to criminal exploitation in Wales and has contributed to recent publications on social work education and the mental health impacts of placement instability among care-experienced youth.

Dr Maxwell also leads CASCADE’s evaluative work under Health and Care Research Wales infrastructure funding, supporting the development of advanced methodologies in children’s social care. This work is delivered in partnership with Professor Mike Robling at the Centre for Trials Research, bringing together her research interests to build capacity and innovation across the sector.