Number of children looked after in England is up 4 per cent to 78,150
Children ceasing to be looked after due to adoption has fallen by 7 per cent
The number of children looked after in England is up 4 per cent to 78,150 at 31 March 2019. The number of children starting to be looked after during the year is down 2 per cent to 31,680. The figures for the year ended 31 March 2019 have been released by the Department for Education.
At 31 March 2019 children were looked after:
- under a care order – a court order placing a child in the care or supervision of a local authority – 75 per cent
- under a voluntary agreement – this allows a local authority to provide accommodation for a child where there's parental consent, or when no-one with parental responsibility is in place – 18 per cent
- under a placement order – a court order allowing a local authority to place a child for adoption – 7 per cent
- detained for child protection or under youth justice legal statuses – less than 0.5 per cent.
The number of children ceasing to be looked after during the year is down 2 per cent to 29,460. Children ceasing to be looked after during the year due to adoption fell by 7 per cent to 3,570 – this continues the drop seen last year and is down from a peak of 5,360 in 2015.
The average time between entry into care and adoption is 1 year and 11 months, the same as 2018 and down from 2 years and 3 months in 2015 and 2016. The reduction has been at two stages as:
- the time to decision to place a child for adoption following entry to care is down from 8 months in 2015 to 6 months in 2019
- the time between the decision to place for adoption and matching of child and adopters is down from 10 months in 2015 to 8 months in 2019.
Children ceasing to be looked after through a special guardianship order (SGO) increased by 11 per cent to 3,830. Most SGOs were to relatives or friends – 90 per cent - the remainder were largely to former foster carers – 9 per cent.
For the full statistics, click here.
17/1/20