Adults A telephone return home interview pilot Becca Padbury – Development and Partnerships Manager Shane Hemsley – Senior Aftercare Coordinator

Lost Contact tracing Supporting family members Supporting the police Supporting missing adults and children

Context Each year, an estimated 250,000 people go missing and around 34% of these are adults. Almost all (98%) of these missing episodes last less than a week. Effective support for a returned missing adult can achieve several objectives including: Ensuring risks and wellbeing can be assessed and managed; Preventing further missing episodes; Reducing the resource demands associated with repeat missing incidents. The cost of adult missing episodes is several millions of pounds; Ensuring families of a returned missing person receive the support and guidance they need; Helping professionals prevent and respond effectively to missing episodes.

Set-up December 2016 – June 2017 Partners – South Wales, Lincolnshire, Gwent and North Wales Police ISP Criteria Referral Pathway

Our offer Every referral would be offered the minimum service; Try to reach the returned missing adult directly or via their carer/partner (whomever reported them missing) Offer them a confidential space to debrief by telephone on what happened before, during and after being missing Assessing the current and continued risk to them or anyone else based on the debrief Agreeing a safety plan or next steps with the adult for e.g. referral in to adult services or another relevant organisation Signposting every adult to our free, confidential, 24/7 helpline for missing adults or adults feeling like running away Offering them a follow-up call in a few days to see how they are doing and re-assess risk

8 days from referral to completed RHI Results 59% Male On average 7 contact attempts 8 days from referral to completed RHI

66% took our helpline details for 24/7 support 13% Results 67% reached rate/ 62% take-up rate 64 risk indicators identified as a result of RHI 46.7% cited ‘mental health’ related issues as a reason for leaving including self-harm, depression and suicide 66% took our helpline details for 24/7 support 13% Resulted in an immediate safeguarding referral 94% consented to information shared 69% agreed to a follow-up call

"It has helped speaking with you." Sophie said that the call had "lifted her spirits" and she "felt good" about being able to talk things through. Jenny explained that she should talk more and deal with her problems and not keep things bottled up. Natalie said "this had been a great comfort." Joe explained that the talk had helped "probably more than you would know." Ben stated at the end of the return home interview that it "had been good" to talk about his missing incident.

Next Steps Evaluation conducted by external consultant released in July/August 2017 APG enquiry into vulnerable adults and missing (with a focus on the support they need) Consultations with returned missing adults and development of training for professionals To larger pilot in partnership with a local authority, police and health

Helpline: Contact Details: Shane Hemsley Call or Text 116 000 Email 116000@missingpeople.org.uk ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contact Details: Becca Padbury Becca.Padbury@missingpeople.org.uk Shane Hemsley Shane.Hemsley@missingpeople.org.uk