What do we mean by 'looked after'?

Some children and young people have difficult life experiences which sometimes require some form of intervention from a potentially wide range of services, including:

• local authorities
• the Children's Hearings system
• the law courts.

The situation does not always, but can sometimes, lead to that child or young person then becoming 'looked after' by their local authority.

These are children with their own personalities, needs and experiences, but what they have in common is that life has not been easy for them.

Looked after at home

A significant proportion of looked after children are looked after at home by their parents. At 31 March 2008, 43% of looked after children were placed at home with parents. Generally all of these children and young people will have appeared at a children’s hearing. The children’s hearing will have made a legal supervision requirement resulting in the young person becoming looked after.

All children and young people who are looked after must have a care plan in place which is reviewed at regular intervals. The overall aim of a supervision requirement for a child or young person living at home is to promote beneficial changes in their life while enabling them to remain at home.

Looked after away from home

The majority - 57% - of all looked after children in 2007/2008 do not live at home with their parents. When the decision is taken that a child should become looked after, and remaining in their home is not considered appropriate, the local authority or the children’s hearing, or in some cases the court, will look at alternative placement options.

These range from foster care, to kinship care, to some form of residential care. The decision on the type of placement should be based on which one best meets the needs of the individual child. Placements can be either short term or long term, depending on the needs of the child or young person.

You can also read the legal definitions of these terms.