Fall in number of care children going missing

Young people who have been in the care system are going missing less often and committing fewer crimes, a report said.

The Building a Safer Community (BASC) partnership was launched in March 2024 to bring together Jersey's government, justice system and community partners to focus on "prevention, early intervention and long-term resilience" in the island.

A report from BASC showed the number of crimes recorded fell by a third, down from 273 in 2024 to 181 in 2025, along with a 19% drop in the number of care experienced young people being reported missing to police.

Mary Le Hegarat, Minister for Justice and Home Affairs, said the report had shown "real progress" was being made.

The report laid out the results from the first year of the partnership and highlighted developments such as the Domestic Abuse and Sexual Harms partnership and BASC Education Days in schools.

It also looked at work done by initiatives such as the Youth Justice Roadmap - an attempt by police to reduce the number of young people who have been in the care system being criminalised.

The report added the BASC had produced an information booklet explaining to young people how to access the police complaints system.

It said improvements in data gathering meant the partnership had a better understanding of the relationship between police and young people and what their interactions are like.

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