Why do children and young people become looked after?

The number of children and young people becoming looked after has increased year on year over the last two decades. The reasons for children becoming looked after are more complex, but the number placed as a result of offending behaviour has remained fairly static. 

The overwhelming majority are placed for care and protection reasons and that number is increasing annually. Children and young people may be looked after for short or long periods; some return home, some are adopted, and some remain looked after for many years until they reach adulthood.

There are many reasons why children become looked after.

• Some have experienced neglect.
• Some have experienced mental, physical or emotional abuse.
• Some parents are unable to look after their children because of their own substance misuse or poor parenting skills.
• Some young people need a bit of time away from their birth family or community while a package of support is put in place to try to rebuild family relationships or their ability to function.
• Some have complex disabilities and need to be placed in specialist residential schools.

• Some have become involved in the youth justice system.

Looked after children and young people are not a homogenous group with the same backgrounds or needs. They are individual children and young people with their own personalities, needs and experiences.

The only thing they have in common is that life has not been easy for them, and for most some aspect of their life circumstances has led to a children’s hearing or a court deciding that some form of compulsory intervention is required. A small number become looked after away from home through a voluntary agreement between their parent(s) and the local authority.

When children and young people become looked after, it is essential that there is robust and flexible planning for their future from the outset. Stability is crucial to children’s development and happiness, and the system should support stability through minimising moves and seeking permanent solutions wherever possible.

Most young people leaving care do not become 'care leavers' - that is, they return to their birth families or find other permanent solutions before they reach their statutory school leaving age. Ensuring that their transition from care is as smooth and sustainable as possible should be an underpinning theme to care planning and decision-making.

At 31 March 2008, there were 14,886 children looked after by local authorities, an increase of 6% since 2007. The number of children looked after has increased every year since 2001, and is at its highest since 1983.

However, statistics do not reveal the family stresses and personal upset which can result when a child or young person becomes looked after. There are many complex feelings and experiences involved in being looked after - How does it feel to be looked after? has more information.

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