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This paper sets a case study of missing children in the Republic of Ireland against a review of international research to explore broader understandings and responses to the problem.

The study begins by reviewing the literature on pioneering American initiatives dating back to the 1970s and more recent literature from Great Britain where a series of high-profile scandals involving sexual exploitation of teenage girls provoked a number of controversial inquiries into the police and social work professions. The present study was prompted by an evaluation of the 116 000 Missing Children Hotline which was introduced to Ireland in 2012 under the auspices of the European Union (EU) Daphne III Programme by the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC).

The central conclusion emerging from analysis of the evidence is that Missing Children Hotlines remain rooted in representations of ‘stranger danger’ and disconnected from repeat runaway children who feature prominently in police reports from formal care settings or family homes and who are actively targeted by sexual predators and criminal gangs. The implications are that systemic change requires grounding in research strategies which combine police data with anthropological studies to give legitimacy to the voices of runway and sexually exploited children.

The study offers original international perspectives on missing children to epistemological research communities in the fields of social work, criminology and policing with recommendations that Missing Children and Runaway Safe-lines are targeted systemically at keeping runaway children, homeless children and at-risk-youth safe and off the streets.

This paper outlines best practice in the commissioning of emergency accommodation for children and young people who run away, identifying: levels of need; models of accommodation provision that have existed in the UK; approaches to funding; costs of emergency accommodation; the commissioning process; and service delivery issues.

This paper is an expert opinion piece drawing upon a project commissioned by The Scottish Government based on extensive research including a review of the pre‐existing evidence base and new data.

Fixed refuge has been the most common form of emergency accommodation for young runaways in the UK and provides positive outcomes for young runaways relating to improved general well‐being, mental health and schooling. The costs of refuge can compare favourably to alternative specialised accommodation and support and prevent other costs relating to future episodes of running away, future offending, substance misuse and youth homelessness.

Evidence‐based learning has identified best practice in the commissioning of emergency accommodation related to a number of issues including: scoping activity; the commissioning process; costs; approaches to funding; effective future commissioning of emergency accommodation; why the third sector is best placed to deliver emergency accommodation; and ensuring key elements of service delivery are included to meet children and young people's need and achieve positive outcomes.

The commissioning of emergency accommodation for young runaways has received little attention in research; this paper goes some way to rectifying this omission alongside providing evidence‐based learning for commissioners and service delivery organisations.

This article describes a practice initiative to reduce the incidence of young people running away from home or care. Such individuals are at risk of exploitation, offending and victimisation. The cost of dealing with runaways is also assessed. Partnership initiatives are described that achieved significant reductions in the number of running away incidents and cost savings.

To document the police protective custody (PPC) process and in doing so develop a predictive model to better inform police decision makers on the factors that are more likely to result in the state maintaining custody of a child.

Data for the current study were gathered through a series of focus groups and 6,607 existing records of PPC admissions into a children's home in the Wichita Children's Home (WCH) (Kansas). Systematic predictive modeling (logistic regression) was used to differentiate between children that are likely to need continued involvement of the child welfare system and those who could remain in the custody of their families.

Documents the PPC process by which a child is referred to be housed by WCH by a law enforcement agency. Reports on the design of a decision model which identifies the factors affecting the outcome of the PPC process.

Provides recommendations for streamlining the PPC process as well as the improvement of police policies and procedures.

The purpose of this paper is to test the “power few” concept in relation to missing persons and the locations from which they are reported missing.

Data on missing persons’ cases (n = 26,835) were extracted from the record management system of a municipal Canadian police service and used to create data sets of all of the reports associated with select repeat missing adults (n = 1943) and repeat missing youth (n = 6,576). From these sources, the five locations from which repeat missing adults and youth were most commonly reported missing were identified (“power few” locations). The overall frequency of reports generated by these locations was then assessed by examining all reports of both missing and repeat missing cases, and demographic and incident factors were also examined.

This study uncovers ten addresses (five for adults; five for youths) in the City from which this data was derived that account for 45 percent of all adults and 52 percent of all youth missing person reports. Even more striking, the study data suggest that targeting these top five locations for adults and youths could reduce the volume of repeat missing cases by 71 percent for adults and 68.6 percent for youths. In relation to the demographic characteristics of the study’s sample of adults and youths who repeatedly go missing, the authors find that female youth are two-thirds more likely to go missing than male youth. Additionally, the authors find that Aboriginal adults and youths are disproportionately represented among the repeat missing. Concerning the incident factors related to going missing repeatedly, the authors find that the repeat rate for going missing is 63.2 percent and that both adults and youths go missing 3–10 times on average.

The study results suggest that, just as crime concentrates in particular spaces among specific offenders, repeat missing cases also concentrate in particular spaces and among particular people. In thinking about repeat missing persons, the present research offers support for viewing these concerns as a behavior setting issue – that is, as a combination of demographic factors of individuals, as well as factors associated with particular types of places. Targeting “power few” locations for prevention efforts, as well as those most at risk within these spaces, may yield positive results.

Very little research has been conducted on missing persons and, more specifically, on how to more effectively target police initiatives to reduce case volumes. Further, this is the first paper to successfully apply the concept of the “power few” to missing persons’ cases.

The purpose of this monograph is to present the first English translation of a unique French colonial report on women living under colonial rule in West Africa.

The issue begins with a discussion of the contribution this report makes to the history of social development policy in Africa, and how it serves the on‐going critique of colonisation. This is followed by the English translation of the original report held in the National Archives of Senegal. The translation is accompanied by explanatory notes, translator’s comments, a glossary of African and technical terms, and a bibliography.

The discussion highlights contemporary social development policies and practices which featured in identical or similar forms in French colonial social policy.

As the report demonstrates, access to basic education and improving maternal/infant health care have dominated the social development agenda for women in sub‐Saharan Africa for over a century, and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future in the Millennium Development Goals which define the international community’s agenda for social development to 2015. The parallels between colonial and post‐colonial social policies in Africa raise questions about the philosophical and cultural foundations of contemporary social development policy in Africa and the direction policy is following in the 21st century.

Though the discussion adopts a consciously postcolonial perspective, the report that follows presents a consciously colonial view of the “Other”. Given the parallels identified here between contemporary and colonial policy‐making, this can only add to the value of the document in exploring the values that underpin contemporary social development practice.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how, by encouraging all key stakeholders to “play nicely and act maturely” to share responsibility, the author was able to improve outcomes for children reported missing to Gwent Police. The paper shows that sharing responsibility is a critical factor in such collaboration, requiring people and agencies to let go of power that usually interferes with a preparedness to avoid blame, a willingness to enjoy the rewards of success and together manage the risks.

It offers a viewpoint about identifying the issues and failings of silo working and developing a more creative way of working together to improve outcomes for some of the most vulnerable children and young people. It is informed by close working between colleagues from different agencies and professional disciplines and the lived experience of the author in moving from a social services department to the police service.

Working with people is always complex, the whole process is vulnerable to and affected by personal interpretations and different value bases, yet vulnerable young people need consistency and boundaries. To improve outcomes, the author has to improve the understanding of individuals’ stories, hear what the young people are saying and create a consistent response by balancing risks with potential for change.

There are no formal research findings as yet, but it draws on research carried out elsewhere and highlights where there is shared learning from listening more attentively to what young people say about their experiences of services, set up to protect and safeguard their interests. The independent counselling offered to young people is a critically different ingredient to consider for the future, harnessing the contribution of the third sector and explores their strategic and operational involvement.

Improved outcomes for and engagement with the young people and their families, reducing the long-term impact on the public purse, while lessening risks and breaking the cycle.

It explores collaboration still in its infancy, but one about which there has been considerable interest UK-wide, illustrating the potential for collaboration and/or integration between agencies that have seldom been comfortable “bedfellows”.

Dangos sut, trwy annog yr holl randdeiliaid allweddol i ‘chwarae’n dda ac ymddwyn yn aeddfed’ i rannu cyfrifoldeb, roeddem yn gallu gwella canlyniadau ar gyfer plant yr hysbyswyd Heddlu Gwent eu bod ar goll. Nod yr erthygl hon yw dangos bod rhannu cyfrifoldeb yn ffactor hanfodol mewn cydweithrediad o’r fath ac, yn hynny o beth, mae angen i bobl ac asiantaethau gael gwared ar y pŵer a’r rheolaeth sydd fel arfer yn ymyrryd â pharodrwydd i osgoi bai a pharodrwydd i fwynhau gwobrwyon llwyddiant a rheoli risg gyda’n gilydd. Methodoleg - Mae’n cynnig safbwynt yn ymwneud â nodi materion a methiannau’r ‘hen ffordd’ silo o weithio a datblygu ffordd arloesol a mwy creadigol o weithio gyda’n gilydd i wella canlyniadau ar gyfer rhai o’r plant a’r bobl ifanc mwyaf agored i niwed. Caiff y safbwynt hwn ei lywio gan gydweithio agos rhwng cydweithwyr o asiantaethau gwahanol gyda disgyblaethau proffesiynol a chefndiroedd gwahanol a phrofiad ymarferol yr awdur yn symud o adran gwasanaethau cymdeithasol i weithio yng ngwasanaeth yr heddlu.

Mae gweithio gyda phobl yn gymhleth, gall y broses gyfan gael ei heffeithio gan ddehongliadau personol a gwerthoedd gwahanol, ond eto mae angen cysondeb a ffiniau ar bobl ifanc agored i niwed. Er mwyn gwella canlyniadau, mae’n rhaid i ni wella ein dealltwriaeth o straeon unigolion, clywed yr hyn y mae pobl ifanc yn ei ddweud a chreu ymateb cyson trwy gydbwyso’r peryglon gyda photensial ar gyfer newid.

nid oes unrhyw ganfyddiadau ymchwil ffurfiol ar y prosiect eto, ond bydd yr erthygl yn defnyddio ymchwil a wnaed rhywle arall ac yn amlygu dysgu a rennir wrth wrando’n fwy astud ar yr hyn y mae pobl ifanc yn ei ddweud am eu profiad o wasanaethau, sydd wedi eu sefydlu i amddiffyn a diogelu eu buddiannau. Gall natur annibynnol y cwnsela sy’n cael ei gynnig i bobl ifanc fod yn elfen hanfodol wahanol i’w hystyried ar gyfer y dyfodol ac mae’n defnyddio cyfraniad y trydydd sector ac yn archwilio eu cyfranogiad strategol a gweithredol.

Canlyniadau gwella ar gyfer pobl ifanc a’u teuluoedd ac ar gyfer eu hymgysylltu, gan leihau’r effaith hirdymor ar gyllid cyhoeddus, tra’n lleihau’r peryglon ac yn torri’r cylch.

Mae’r erthygl hon yn archwilio cydweithrediaeth sy’n dal mewn cyfnod cynnar, ond yn un y mae diddordeb sylweddol wedi bod ynddi ar draws y DU ac mae’n dangos y potensial ar gyfer cydweithredu a/neu integreiddio rhwng asiantaethau sydd heb fod yn gyfforddus iawn yn gweithio mewn ‘partneriaeth’.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the satisfaction of teenagers who are suffering from or are exposed to social damages of children and young adults’ publications in Iran.

A descriptive surveys approach with practical purposes is applied here. The tools used in this study include two researcher-made questionnaires. Two sets of participants constitute the statistical populations: 120 and 50 teenagers who were affected by or are at the risk of social damages. Data collection from the first set was through census, while the same from the second set is through the disproportionate stratified random sampling method. Another statistical population is the group of premier children publishers during 2006-2016.

The teenagers’ satisfaction mainly is involved with: perceived quality, expectations and perceived value. “Music” and “Recreational and performing arts”, internet-based resources, “Electronic materials” and “Real stories” are ranked as having the highest mean value in information needs, formats and literacy genre among teenagers, respectively. The findings here indicate that the teenagers participated are satisfied with children publications to a great extent.

This is the first research which used the CSI Model for assessing the satisfaction of teenagers at risk and vulnerable to social damages.

International literature on missing persons suggests that a significant volume of missing person cases originate from hospitals and mental health units, resulting in considerable costs and resource demands on both police and health sectors (e.g., Bartholomew et al., 2009; Sowerby and Thomas, 2017). In the Canadian context, however, very little is known about patients reported missing from these locations – a knowledge deficit with profound implications in terms of identifying and addressing risk factors that contribute to this phenomenon. The present study is one such preliminary attempt to try to fill a significant research and policy gap.

The authors draw on data from a sample of 8,261 closed missing person reports from a Canadian municipal police service over a five-year period (2013–2018). Using multiple logistic regression, the authors identify, among other factors, who is most likely to be reported missing from these locations.

Results reveal that several factors, such as mental disabilities, senility, mental illness and addiction, are significantly related to this phenomenon. In light of these findings, the authors suggest that there is a need to develop comprehensive strategies and policies involving several stakeholders, such as health care and social service organizations, as well as the police.

Each year, thousands of people go missing in Canada with a large number being reported from hospitals and mental health units, which can be burdensome for the police and health sectors in terms of human and financial resource allocation. Yet, very little is known about patients reported missing from health services – a knowledge deficit with profound implications in terms of identifying and addressing risk factors that contribute to this phenomenon. This manuscript seeks to remedy this gap in Canadian missing persons literature by exploring who goes missing from hospitals and mental health units.