Onboarding

Child Criminal Exploitation & County Lines Awareness Certification

County lines is a violent and exploitative form of drug distribution in which organised crime networks use a dedicated phone line to coordinate the sale of drugs, exploiting children and vulnerable adults to carry, store and sell them on their behalf. It is one form of a wider pattern of abuse known as child criminal exploitation (CCE), which can also include activity such as theft, robbery, cannabis cultivation and money muling.

This Child Criminal Exploitation & County Lines Awareness course gives staff the knowledge to recognise, respond to and report this form of exploitation. It explains how children are recruited and controlled, including through cuckooing, and covers the warning signs to look out for, the impact exploitation can have on a child, and why children may not disclose what is happening to them or find it difficult to leave.

The course uses safeguarding terminology and references used in England, such as the designated safeguarding lead (DSL), but the indicators, impact and response principles covered are broadly relevant to anyone working with children and young people across the UK.

Any child can be targeted, and no single sign confirms exploitation on its own. This course helps learners understand the pattern behind county lines activity, so they can spot the combination of signs that matter and know what to do when they see them.

What you'll learn

  • What county lines and child criminal exploitation (CCE) mean, and how they relate to other forms of child exploitation
  • Cuckooing, and how criminal networks take control of a person’s home to use as a base
  • The factors that can increase a child’s vulnerability to criminal exploitation
  • The grooming and control tactics used to recruit and trap children, including debt bondage and coercion
  • The warning signs that a child may be a victim of county lines exploitation
  • The impact of exploitation on a child, and why they may not disclose what is happening or find it hard to leave
  • How to respond to a disclosure and report concerns safely and appropriately
  • Build a clear understanding of what county lines and child criminal exploitation involve, including cuckooing