Welcome to Learn on the go, a Community Care Inform podcast where we discuss what the latest research, practice models and policy guidance mean to your practice.

In this episode, we discuss criminal exploitation and county lines.

The experts are Dave, a parent whose son, Mark, became involved with gangs, and Catherine, a youth justice manager who worked with Dave and Mark and has expertise in gangs and county lines.

Dave and Mark are pseudonyms, and we haven’t given full names or a specific local authority in order to protect Mark’s identity.

02:56 - 05:25: Catherine explains what terms like ‘criminal exploitation’ and ‘county lines’ mean.

07:44 - 10:20: Dave and Catherine talk about some of the signs that a young person is being exploited.

14:23 - 23:30: What does good social work with young people and parents look like? Catherine talks about the importance of social workers taking the time to get to know young people and building a trusting relationship. And Dave talks about his own experience and needing to be listened to, not judged, and talked to honestly.

References
Turner, A (2018)
'We weren't set up to deal with this': how councils have responded to county lines
Community Care