New Action Plan To Combat Child Criminal Exploitation

Ministers from the Departments of Justice, Health, and Education have unveiled a comprehensive action plan to address Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE) in Northern Ireland.

The CCE Action Plan is a collaborative effort between government departments and agencies aimed at improving the response to the criminal exploitation of young people and integrating these measures into the existing child protection system.

The plan is grounded in a shared definition of CCE, developed in conjunction with children and young people: 'Child criminal exploitation is a form of child abuse that occurs when an individual or group exploits an imbalance of power to coerce, control, manipulate, or deceive a child or young person under the age of 18 into any criminal activity.'

Announcing the new Action Plan, Justice Minister Naomi Long said: "The exploitation of children for criminal purposes may seem like a shocking concept and one which could not happen in a modern progressive society. And yet this is happening every day in Northern Ireland.

"This cross-departmental action plan enables us to implement measures to prevent the criminal exploitation of children and young people and to ensure an effective response when exploitation does occur.  We need to ensure that children and young people who are criminally exploited are recognised as victims and supported rather than criminalised." A significant number of actions under the plan will be led and facilitated by the Safeguarding Board for Northern Ireland (SBNI).

Health Minister Mike Nesbitt said: "Supporting and protecting our young people at risk of criminal exploitation or being exploited requires a whole-society response. This plan demonstrates a cross-Executive determination to tackle this important issue.

"The action plan includes commitments to develop training and guidance for professionals, risk assessment tools, agreed pathways into support services and resources and awareness raising programmes for young people and their parents and carers.

"This is the start of a process which will build capacity among safeguarding professionals to support our children and young people."

Education Minister Paul Givan said: "Education has a key role in supporting young people at risk of, or being harmed by, criminal exploitation. Our teachers, classroom assistants and youth workers are uniquely placed to build trusted relationships with those at risk, identifying issues of concern and delivering positive interventions. However, they cannot do it alone. The aim is to create a multi-agency, cross-sectoral response which ensures that our young people can thrive. The development of a specific definition of Child Criminal Exploitation, that can be incorporated into policies and procedures, is an important first step."

To support the launch of the action plan, the Executive Programme on Paramilitarism and Organised Crime (EPPOC) has launched the third and final video of its series aimed at improving the awareness of the impact of paramilitarism.