Child Criminal Exploitation, County Lines – Standard (Zoom)

This program aims to assist participants to understand how the "County Lines" element of gang culture has developed into what is now being called an "epidemic of child criminal exploitation". We will examine how the issue overlaps with grooming, online safety and child sexual exploitation.  The course explores how gangs use social media as a recruitment tool to present the lifestyle as easy access to money, friendship and a glamorous lifestyle. They also then use it to control new members. We also examine the real impact on the individual, their families and broader society.

Learning Outcomes

1. Understand what “County Lines” are
2. Understand traditional drug markets
3. Understand the vulnerabilities and indicators
4. To know the context of criminal exploitation
5. Understand how major drug dealers supply these markets
6. Look at how vulnerable people are groomed, coerced, and forced to assist them
7. Understand the role that Social Media plays in the process
8. Understand our legal responsibility and how we should respond

Who is Child Criminal Exploitation Training for?

This course is for foster carers, adopters and Supervising Social Workers. Also, this course is for Residential Child Care Workers (RCCW) and residential team managers from mainstream, short-breaks and outreach services.

Also relevant for youth workers, education professionals and those in the community voluntary sectors.

Format: This is a live training session through the platform "Zoom". It includes taught sections, small group work, work in pairs, and whole group discussions.

Hand-outs & Certificates: Downloadable course notes and certificates of attendance are provided.