High Level Summary of Statistics Trend Last update: Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Children Looked After
At 31st July 2011 there were 16,171 children looked after by local authorities, an increase of 2 per cent since 31st July 2010. The number of children looked after has increased every year since 2001, and is at its highest since 1981.
Thirty four per cent of children looked after were looked after at home with parents and 24 per cent were looked after by friends or relatives. The number of children being looked after in community placements increased by 2 per cent on 2010.
Nearly a quarter (24 per cent) of children looked after were with foster carers provided by the local authority, with a further 7 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.
The proportion of children looked after in residential care was 9 per cent nationally, and is now at its lowest since when data has been available. The actual numbers of children in residential care has been fairly static between 2000 and 2007, but has started to show a decline since 2007.
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Source: Children Looked After Statistics, Scottish Government
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