Academic Journal
Identifying unsupported children and young people via police contact: a retrospective cross-sectional observational study.
| Τίτλος: | Identifying unsupported children and young people via police contact: a retrospective cross-sectional observational study. |
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| Συγγραφείς: | Bekaert S; Oxford Institute of Applied Health Research, Oxford Brookes University; Thames Valley Violence Prevention Partnership, UK. Electronic address: sbekaert@brookes.ac.uk., Stevens J; Thames Valley Violence Prevention Partnership, UK. Electronic address: jade.stevens@thamesvalley.police.uk. |
| Πηγή: | Public health [Public Health] 2026 Jun; Vol. 255, pp. 106257. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Apr 10. |
| Τύπος έκδοσης: | Journal Article; Observational Study |
| Γλώσσα: | English |
| Στοιχεία περιοδικού: | Publisher: Elsevier Country of Publication: Netherlands NLM ID: 0376507 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1476-5616 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00333506 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Public Health Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Publication: 2003- : Amsterdam : Elsevier Original Publication: London ; New York : Academic Press |
| Ιατρικοί όροι (MeSH): | Police*/statistics & numerical data, Humans ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Retrospective Studies ; Adolescent ; Child ; Female ; Male |
| Περίληψη: | Objectives: Children and young people (CYP) who come into contact with the police often experience multiple vulnerabilities, including exploitation risk, school disengagement, and social exclusion. Early intervention and cross-agency coordination are central to mitigating these risks, yet many CYP remain unallocated to statutory systems. This study explored whether initial police contact could serve as a practical identification point for CYP aged 10-15 not currently supported by statutory services, and to describe cohort characteristics across five Thames Valley Local Authority (LA) areas. Study Design: A retrospective cross-sectional observational study using linked administrative police and Local Authority data. Methods: CYP were screened for recent police contact and categorised according to statutory service involvement (Children's Social Care [CSC], Youth Justice [YJ]), Other/Unknown, Not eligible, or Eligible (unsupported). Results: Two hundred CYP were sought, 80 were identified, 65% were open to CSC and 24% to YJ services, with only 14% meeting criteria as unallocated and unsupported. Police contact primarily identified CYP already known to statutory services. Compared to national figures (3% CSC; 0.8% YJ), this cohort was disproportionately high-risk and over-represented in statutory systems. Conclusion: Police data alone have limited reach for identifying unsupported CYP. In this small, multi-site feasibility sample, multi-agency early-identification strategies should combine police information with upstream indicators such as school engagement and family stress. Embedding early intervention within educational and community settings could improve reach and prevent escalation to statutory thresholds. (Copyright © 2026 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.) |
| Competing Interests: | Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no completing interests. |
| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: Early intervention; Multi-agency working; Police contact; Safeguarding; School engagement; Youth justice |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20260412 Date Completed: 20260715 Latest Revision: 20260715 |
| Update Code: | 20260715 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.puhe.2026.106257 |
| PMID: | 41966811 |
| Βάση Δεδομένων: | MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1476-5616 |
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| DOI: | 10.1016/j.puhe.2026.106257 |