This Framework is designed for multi-agency professionals across Scotland involved in identifying, supporting, and protecting children at risk of or experiencing criminal exploitation, including:
- Social workers and family support teams
- Youth justice and Justice practitioners
- Residential care practitioners
- Secure Care practitioners
- Police and child protection officers
- Teachers, guidance staff, and school child protection and safeguarding lead
- CAMHS and community health professionals
- Legal practitioners (COPFS, SCRA, defence)
- Children’s Hearing Panel Members
- Third sector and community support workers
- Housing, community safety, and youth engagement teams
How the Framework is to Be Used
The Framework provides a practical, protective and trauma-informed model for recognising and responding to the criminal exploitation of children (CEC) as a child protection issue, and a form of child abuse.
It supports practitioners to:
– Identify early signs and patterns of criminal exploitation, that does not depend on the child viewing themselves as exploited or disclosing such abuse.
– Analyse risks using structured tools like the Screening Tool, considering the push and pull factors and contextual weighting
– Respond using a multi-agency, rights-based and developmentally appropriate approach
– Embed protective language, engagement strategies, and intervention planning
– Consider children’s needs holistically across the various contexts and relationships within these spaces such as home, peer, community and school environments.
The Framework is designed to complement existing child protection practice, supporting proportionate responses grounded in GIRFEC and The Promise.
This Framework is supported by the following documents:
CCE Framework: Multi-agency self evaluation tool