Drugs gangs make huge profits from exploiting the most vulnerable - usually children and young people - who are targeted, groomed, manipulated and coerced into drug trafficking and distribution.
Sadly, the very nature of county lines - using children and young people to move drugs out of cities and into smaller towns and communities - means that it is happening all around the country in communities of all types.
Through our work with the Hidden Voices program, county lines stood out as a subject in need of direct focus. Groups saw it as a growing problem in their areas, they were highly motivated to find ways of responding to it, but they felt they needed a deeper understanding of the whole issue. So, Breaking County Lines was born.
About Breaking County Lines
Designed as a resource to enable churches and communities to understand and raise awareness of the scale of the problem and spot the signs of its presence. It also looks at ways of building resilience in our communities with an emphasis on the protection of children, young people and vulnerable adults. Breaking County Lines is written in four modules including digital stories based on personal experience, group activities, supporting information and biblical reflections.
The modules cover: Understanding County Lines; Detection of County Lines; Protecting Children, Young People and Vulnerable Adults; and, Building Resilience.
We hope that by using this resource you will feel informed, inspired and ready to take some action in your communities.
Online courses
We have Breaking County Lines Train the Trainer courses for those who want to take the course out to their own communities as well as practitioner forums for those who have already attended the county lines courses.
Courses are available for church groups and for statutory organisations and agencies with adapted course materials for each type of group (both secular and faith materials are available). Online courses take place over three 2-hour sessions covering the four course modules: Understanding County Lines; Detection of County Lines; Protecting Children, Young People and Vulnerable Adults; and Building Resilience.
The sessions make use of videos and other online resources to gain an understanding of county lines, how it operates in our communities and what we can do to respond.
Training for parents, guardians, grandparents and foster parents
County lines is prevalent in all communities and children from all backgrounds and circumstances can be at risk. Therefore it's important that parents, grandparents, foster parents and guardians are aware of county lines and its impacts on young people and vulnerable adults.
We have developed bespoke online training sessions to raise awareness and equip those with caring responsibilities with ways of responding appropriately.
If you would like to find out more about the courses and upcoming course dates, please email us at: clewerinitiative@churchofengland.org or visit our online training page.
