Medway return home interviews

We work in partnership with the Police to ensure the safety of children in Medway, with emphasis on children and young people who are reported as missing.

What is a return home interview

Once a missing child returns, arrangements are made to speak to the child or young person to:

  • find out why they went missing
  • offer them support to prevent them going missing in the future.

This is known as a return home interview. 

What happens after a return home interview

Once a return home interview has been done, schools are advised if a contact to First Response is appropriate. The contact may be for:

The school, family or appropriate agency is then told if a referral to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) is needed.

The parents or child can also be signposted to other local services such as Open Road, which is a young person’s drug and alcohol service.

Information is shared with other agencies under the relevant information-sharing protocol.

The work we do with children and young people who are not known to social care has meant that we can offer support before matters deteriorate.