Frequently asked questions about CTAC
The NSPCC National Child Trafficking Advice Centre
What is CTAC?What is child trafficking?How do I contact CTAC?Who can contact CTAC?What sort of calls does CTAC receive?Who will answer my call?What happens when you call CTAC?What happens when you email CTAC?What will happen after I make a referral?Does CTAC provide direct support for children who have been trafficked?Where can I find more information about trafficking?
What is CTAC?
CTAC is the NSPCC's Child Trafficking Advice Centre (formerly known as the NSPCC's Child Trafficking Advice and Information Line).
It is a specialist service offering advice and information to professionals who come into contact with children who may have been trafficked.
CTAC's work includes:
- carrying out casework relating to individual trafficked children, which involves attending meetings about that child, providing advice to professionals and writing expert witness child trafficking reports
- making referrals to Children’s Services and other agencies that can protect and support that child
- being a first responder for child referrals to the National Referral Mechanism
- offering free resources, training and awareness-raising presentations to assist organisations in identifying and helping trafficked children
- participating in research and policy consultations about trafficked children.
What is child trafficking?
Child trafficking is the recruitment and movement of children for the purpose of exploitation. This exploitation may include all or some of the following:
- sexual exploitation
- labour exploitation
- domestic servitude
- cannabis cultivation
- criminal activity
- forced marriage
- moving drugs.
Child trafficking is a form of child abuse and requires a child protection response.
How do I contact CTAC?
If you are a professional and you think a child may have been trafficked you can contact CTAC on
0808 800 5000 Monday to Friday 9.30am to 4.30pm or email
help@nspcc.org.uk.
Who can contact CTAC?
CTAC offers advice and information to professionals such as: social workers, police, teachers, immigration officers, Connexions advisors and health professionals. (This list is not exhaustive.)
CTAC has a national remit so professionals from anywhere in the UK can contact us.
The NSPCC also has trained counsellors who can offer expert help, advice and support on any aspect of child welfare 24/7. Call
0808 800 5000, text
88858, email
help@nspcc.org.uk or complete our
online reporting form.
What sort of contacts does CTAC receive?
We deal with a range of contacts about different aspects of: child trafficking, indicators of child trafficking, requests for independent reports, signposting to other agencies and ways of safeguarding children.
We also receive invitations to participate in research and policy consultations.
Who will respond to my call or email?
CTAC is staffed by experienced social workers and a police liaison officer. The information you share with us will not be automatically shared with the police officer; we will take this decision on a case by case basis and in consultation with you.
What happens when you call CTAC?
When you call us:
an experienced social worker will have a case discussion with you and explore the child trafficking concerns
you will be asked to share your details as well as the details of the child; if you have any reservations about sharing the details of the child you can discuss this with us
if all staff are busy, you can either call back later, request a call back from us or contact us by email
depending on what information you share and concerns about the child, the duty worker will make a decision about whether the case should be allocated as a one-off consultation or as a long term piece of work
if the case needs to be referred to the police or children's services, you will be asked for some details to identify the child
if appropriate, you may be signposted to other relevant agencies.
What happens when you email CTAC?
When you email us:
please give us as much information as you can about the child and their situation
child trafficking cases can be complex so we will call you back to talk about the case (email contact cannot replace a thorough case discussion)
we will aim to call you within 24 hours of your email; please provide us with a name so when we call you we know we are speaking to the person who emailed us. Please do not email us if you think a child is in immediate danger as we may not be able to respond to your email instantly. Instead, please telephone the emergency services on
999 or call the NSPCC on
0808 800 5000.
What will happen after I make a referral?
Once we have discussed the situation and explored your concerns, we will open a case. Depending on the nature of the call, we will make a decision about keeping it open as an ongoing piece of work or to treat it as a one-off phone call.
As a child protection agency, we have a duty to follow up on any case presented to us. This means that all cases remain open until the allocated worker and team manager take the joint decision to close them.
We will always keep you informed about our decisions.
Does CTAC provide direct support for children who have been trafficked?
The service has been developed to support professionals; we do not offer direct work for trafficked children.
However, if you are looking for direct services for children please contact us as we may be able to signpost you to a local service.
Where can I find more information about trafficking?
See our topics pages on child trafficking
If you work with a child who may have been trafficked contact the NSPCC National Child Trafficking Advice Centre (CTAC) for advice and information on 0808 800 5000 Monday to Friday 9.30am to 4.30pm or email help@nspcc.org.uk
Copyright © 2011 NSPCC - All rights reserved. National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, Weston House, 42
Curtain Road, London EC2A 3NH. Incorporated by Royal Charter. Registered charity number 216401. NSPCC, charity registered in Scotland, charity number SC037717.