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Statistics Publication Notice: Children Looked After Statistics 2007-08

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CHILDREN LOOKED AFTER STATISTICS 2007-08

Scotland's Chief Statistician today published Children Looked After Statistics 2007-08. This publication contains statistics on children who were looked after by or eligible for aftercare services from local authorities between 1 st April 2007 and 31 st March 2008.

The main findings are:

  • At 31 st March 2008 there were 14,886 children looked after by local authorities, an increase of six per cent since 2007. The number of children looked after has increased every year since 2001, and is at its highest since 1983.
  • At 31 st March 2008, forty three per cent of children looked after were placed at home with parents, and sixteen per cent were looked after by friends or relatives. Twenty nine per cent were looked after by foster carers. Eleven per cent were in residential accommodation.
  • There were 5,158 children who started to be looked after in 2007-08, a decrease of two per cent on 2006-07. The number ceasing to be looked after increased by nine per cent, to 4,513.
  • Fifty five per cent of young people ceasing to be looked after above school leaving age during 2007-08 had a pathway plan on the date they were discharged, and fifty seven per cent had a pathway coordinator.
  • There were 3,765 young people reported to be eligible for aftercare services on 31st March 2008. Forty two per cent of those with known economic activity were in education, training or employment, an increase of 4 percentage points on 2007.
  • At 31st March 2008 there were 1,891 children being looked after on a series of short term placements. Just over half of all these were looked after in residential establishments.

LOOKED AFTER CHILDREN

  1. At 31 st March 2008 there were 14,886 children looked after by local authorities, an increase of six per cent since 2007. The number of children looked after has increased every year since 2001, and is at its highest since 1983 (Tables 1.1, 2.1, 2.9, Chart 1).
  2. Fifty five per cent of children looked after on 31 st March 2008 were male ( Table 1.1). Sixty eight per cent were aged five to 15, with just under half of these in the 12-15 age group (Tables 1.1, 2.1, Chart 3).
  3. Most children looked after on 31 st March 2008 were under supervision requirement, either at home (40 per cent of all children looked after) or away from home (39 per cent). A further nine per cent were accommodated under Section 25 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 (Tables 1.4, 2.2).
  4. At 31 st March 2008, forty three per cent of children looked after were looked after at home with parents and sixteen per cent were looked after by friends or relatives. The number of children being looked after by friends or relatives increased by 15 per cent compared with 31 st March 2007, from 2,094 to 2,398 (Tables 1.8, 2.3, Chart 2).
  5. At 31 st March 2008, nearly a quarter (24 per cent) of children looked after were with foster carers provided by the local authority, with a further four per cent looked after by foster carers purchased by the local authority. The number of children looked after by foster carers or prospective adopters has increased every year since 1993, from 2,574 to 4,480 (Tables 1.8, 2.3, 2.9, Chart 2).
  6. At 31 st March 2008, the proportion of children looked after in residential care was 11 per cent nationally, and is now at its lowest since when data has been available. The actual numbers of children in residential care have been fairly stable since 2000, at around 1,600 (Tables 1.8, 2.9).
  7. There were 5,158 children who started to be looked after in 2007-08, a decrease of two per cent on 2006-07 (Tables 1.11, 2.1). Children are counted for each episode of starting to be looked after (i.e. a child may be counted more than once).
  8. Forty six per cent of children starting to be looked after during 2007-08 were being looked after under a supervision requirement at home, 16 per cent were under a supervision requirement away from home, and 21 per cent were accommodated under Section 25 (Table 1.14, 2.2).
  9. At 31 st March 2008 there were 1,891 children being looked after on a series of short term placements, a decrease of 12 per cent on the previous year. Just over half (51 per cent) of children looked after on a series of short term placements were looked after residentially and 27 per cent were looked after by foster carers (Tables 1.29, 1.30 and 2.8).

LEAVING CARE

  1. There were 4,513 children who ceased to be looked after in 2007-08, an increase of nine per cent on 2006-07 (Tables 1.15, 2.6). Children are counted for each episode of being looked after (i.e. a child may be counted more than once).
  2. Ten per cent of children ceasing to be looked after had been looked after for under six weeks. Nearly a quarter (24 per cent) had been looked after for three years or more, including nine per cent who had been looked after for five years or more. Thirty nine per cent had been looked after for less than a year ( Table 1.19).
  3. In 55 per cent of the episodes of care that ended during 2007-08, the child's destination was home with parents (biological or newly-adoptive). The remaining children had a range of destinations, with no more than eight per cent in any one. ( Table 1.16)

CARE LEAVERS

  1. Fifty five per cent of young people ceasing to be looked after beyond minimum school leaving age during 2007-08 had a pathway plan on the date they were discharged, and fifty seven per cent had a pathway coordinator ( Table 1.20).
  2. Sixty per cent of care leavers beyond minimum school leaving age whose last placement was at home with parents, with friends or relatives, or with foster carers stayed in the same placement type upon leaving care ( Table 1.22).

YOUNG PEOPLE ELIGIBLE FOR AFTERCARE SERVICES

  1. There were 3,765 young people who were reported to be eligible for aftercare services on 31 st March 2008. However, as one local authority could not provide any data, all figures regarding aftercare should be seen as provisional ( Tables 1.23-1.28).
  2. Of all young people reported to be eligible for aftercare services on 31 st March 2008, the accommodation of 23 per cent was not recorded, in most cases because they were no longer in touch with the local authority. Of those whose accommodation was known, most were either living at home with their parents (28 per cent) or living independently/in their own tenancy (27 per cent). Five per cent were known to be homeless ( Table 1.23).
  3. Of the young people eligible for aftercare services on 31 st March 2008 who were in touch with the local authority and whose economic activity was known, 18 per cent were in education and 24 per cent were in training or employment. Four per cent were not in education, training or employment due to illness or disability, seven per cent were looking after family and 47 per cent were unemployed for other reasons ( Table 1.24).
  4. Of those young people eligible for aftercare services whose economic activity was known, there was no difference between the proportions of males and females that were in employment, education or training (42 per cent) ( Table 1.25).

REVISIONS TO 2006-07 DATA

  1. Glasgow City have revised their 2006-07 figure on the number of children looked after at home who did not have a current care plan (Table 1.11 in the 2006-07 publication). Many of the children included in this figure did have a current care plan. As it was not possible to retrieve the data on those with a care plan retrospectively, all these children have been moved to the "not known" category ( Table A1).
  2. Aberdeen City have revised all of their 2006-07 data on children starting to be looked after (last year's Tables 1.12 to 1.15, 2.1, 2.2 and 3.1). The number starting to be looked after is now 224 lower than the figures that were previously published ( Tables A2 to A5).
  3. West Lothian revised their 2006-07 figures on the qualifications of care leavers (last year's Table 1.21, 3.4 and 3.5). Revised totals are shown in Table A6.

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Page updated: Tuesday, November 25, 2008