Losing a child is every parent's worst nightmare.
Not knowing where your child is and when they will return home is a fear that would keep any parent awake at night.
When a child goes missing the police are informed and public appeals are launched to try and pin down the child's whereabouts in the critical initial hours after they go missing.
However, for an often overlooked and forgotten group children on Merseyside , going missing is a depressingly regular occurrence.
Some of the most vulnerable young people in our society are going missing every week, but it's something that gets overwhelmingly unnoticed by the general public.
Data obtained by the ECHO via freedom of information requests has revealed the scale of the crisis of children going missing in care.
More than 500 children in the care of local authorities in the Liverpool City Region went missing last year, the ECHO can reveal.
In 2018, there were more than 3,000 incidents of children going missing while in local authority care on Merseyside.
A leading children's charity has called the findings 'extremely worrying'.
The Children's Society has warned that children going missing in care could be being 'groomed and exploited' by 'criminal drugs gangs or by sexual predators'.
126 days missing
The data shows that some children in care across the region can go missing as many as 40 times in a year.
In 2018, children in the care of Liverpool , Sefton , Wirral , Knowsley , and Halton councils went missing on a combined 3,167 occasions.
Last year, one child in the care of Liverpool City Council went missing 48 times.
Although most children were found within a day or less after going missing, there are instances of children going missing for weeks or even longer.
A 16-year-old who went missing while under the care of Liverpool City Council was reported as missing for 126 days.
And in 2019, a one-year-old child went missing from the care of Sefton Council for more than a day.
Liverpool City Council had the highest number of missing incidents, with 1,046 recorded incidents of a child in care going missing in 2018, and 658 recorded incidents between January and September this year.
This year, a 12 year-old and a 13-year-old cared for by Liverpool City Council went missing for 56 and 54 days respectively.
A spokesperson for the council said that many of these 'missing episodes' were 'absences' where a child 'is away from their care placement without authorisation but their whereabouts are known'.
A statement added: "In all cases, where a child has been recorded as ‘missing’ a return-home interview will take place where we will speak to the child about what happened and use this to improve our safety planning.
"Our return-home interviews were praised by Ofsted last year, as was how we work with our partners in keeping vulnerable young people safe."
In 2018, 70 looked after children in the care of St Helens Council went missing at least once.
Between January and September this year, 56 children in care went missing a combined 454 times in St Helens.
Children in the care of Wirral Council went missing 868 times in 2018, which involved 138 young people.
Figures showed that 66 young people in the care of Sefton Council went missing a combined 454 times last year.
Last year, a 13 to 14-year-old in care in Sefton went missing for a combined 782 hours or 32.5 days.
Knowsley Council had 427 missing incidents involving 54 looked after children in 2018.
Halton Council had 372 missing incidents in 2018 involving 40 young people in its care.
"Going missing can be the sign that a child is being groomed or sexually exploited"
The Children's Society, a charity which works to support vulnerable children in England and Wales, described the findings as 'extremely worrying'.
Iryna Pona, Policy Manager at The Children's Society, said: "It is extremely worrying when a child goes missing, even when they return home or to care soon afterwards.
"Going missing can be the sign that a child is being groomed or sexually exploited, potentially by criminal drugs gangs in so-called 'county lines', or by sexual predators.
"We know that children in care, many of whom are there because of abuse or neglect they were suffering at home, are particularly vulnerable to exploitation.
"It is vital that carers, councils and police forces take every missing incident seriously, recognise these children and vulnerable young people who need support and work together and share information in order to protect them.
"This should include offering every child a statutory Return Home interview with an independent professional within 72 hours of them returning to help understand why they went missing and decide on the right support for a child.
"Going missing can be a cry for help, and it's vital that cry is heard by professionals in social care and other support services and not by predatory criminals. We have to show these children that someone cares and we can do that by listening to them and taking early action to keep them safe."
What did our councils have to say about the figures?
Councils across Merseyside and the City Region have responded by highlighting their procedures in place to deal with missing incidents.
Sarah O'Brien, Director of People's Services and Clinical Accountable Officer for St Helens Council and St Helens CCG, said: "Children missing from care are especially vulnerable, so we take immediate action to identify a child's whereabouts and to secure their safe return working closely with Merseyside Police at the earliest stage to do so."
She added that all children are offered a return interview 'to develop their ongoing help and support needs'.
Sefton Council said that safeguarding children under its care is their 'main priority' and that when a child is found they 'work closely with them to help us better understand what led them to go missing and ensure they have the support they need going forward.'
A spokesperson added: "Many of these cases involve young people who are faced with complex and challenging situations and our priority is to support them, along with their parents and carers, to make sure that they are given the best possible care that addresses their needs and allows them to grow up happy and healthy."
Knowsley Council said that the number of missing incidents 'largely relate to a small number of children who go missing on a frequent basis' and that children missing for prolonged periods 'are often in regular contact with children's Social Care but fail to disclose their whereabouts.'
A council spokesperson added: “For the majority of times the duration of the missing episodes is a matter of minutes or hours. Protocol means that if a child is not back home when expected they must immediately be reported as missing.
“The child who was eight years old was missing for 40 minutes after running off in a park and carers followed the protocol and notified the police.”
Wirral Council said 'any occasion when a child goes missing is a cause for concern' and that the council is 'focused on strengthening our partnership work to provide the best possible support we can for children.'
Paul Boyce, director of Children's Services at Wirral Council, said: "We’ve been working hard to provide the best possible care for our young people. Over the last four months, the number of missing episodes for children has reduced by 20%, in comparison to the same period in 2018.
“Our work with partner agencies – especially the police – has been particularly effective in this area. Children’s Services’ most recent Ofsted inspection in June 2019 highlighted this ‘established and effective’ work in supporting missing young people, stating there is a ‘strong multi-agency approach’ for meeting their needs."
