Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE)

County Lines

County lines – You might have heard about county lines. It’s where gangs exploit children to transport and sell drugs. It can put children in a lot of danger and affect their mental wellbeing. Read this factsheet to make sure you know what signs you should look out for, and what you should do if you’re worried about your child.

County Lines Parent Factsheet

The ‘County Lines’ campaign is being developed to create a multi-agency approach which targets young people, parents, general public, care home staff, Merseyside Police officers/ staff, health care professionals and teachers to create a talking point about the signs and triggers of vulnerable adults and young people being exploited to deliver drugs, and the relevant reporting mechanisms.

Please view the following for more information:

County Lines (Word Document)

#LikestoLines: Protect your child from county lines online exploitation – Unseen (unseenuk.org)

This link is to a video on County Lines activity, produced by and for children and young people – although it is not from our area, it is extremely relevant to this area too and you will have seen County Lines mentioned in the local press and social media. This is happening locally and we need to ensure that everyone, is aware of the signs and terminology to look out for.

Child Exploitation

Northamptonshire Police have created a short film for parents to raise awareness of child exploitation.  It includes examples of what child exploitation can involve, including criminal and sexual exploitation; common signs of possible exploitation; and information on how to report concerns.  

Watch the video/film: Film launched to tackle child exploitation

Child Exploitation (CE) Awareness Day 18^th March 2025

Here at South Cumbria PRS all staff are trained to safeguard students against exploitation and we want to offer parents support in understanding and tackling exploitation to help keep their children safe.

Please see below for signs of exploitation and useful websites and resources for parents. If you are concerned about exploitation, please do not hesitate to contact us specifically Jez Mark, a member of our safeguarding team and a champion of CE prevention practice for the county.

Alongside Child Exploitation Day we are going to deliver tailored Exploitation Awareness sessions to the students.

Some of the signs of Exploitation are:

• Missing school
• Travelling alone, particularly in school hours, late at night or
• frequently
• Staying out late or overnight
• Unexplained gifts/new possessions/possession of unexplained cash
• Drugs and alcohol misuse
• Secretive behaviour
• Inappropriate or sexualised behaviour
• Friendship or relationships with older adult/persons of concern
• Significant changes in mood or behaviour changes in appearance (clothes, hygiene, etc)
• Becoming withdrawn or isolated, poor mental health/self-harm etc.
• Lots of time spent on social media talking to ‘friends’ they haven’t met or that family don’t know
• Unexplained injuries
• They own a second mobile phone from which they are receiving a high volume of calls or need to leave urgently after receiving a text/call

Please view the following spreadsheet which provides contact details for support and advice: