News article

Looked-after Children - The Silent Crisis

19/08/2018

On 31 March 2017, across England around 72,700 children were in care. This is equivalent to approximately 62 for every 10,000 under 18s in England and, on top of this, many more are classified as ‘in need’ or ‘at risk’ and may flow in and out of the care system; around 100,000 children flow through the care system each year. The responsibility of caring for looked-after children (LAC) ultimately falls on Local Authorities, who provide a variety of different placements for LAC. They are responsible as the “corporate parent”, with a commitment to act in the child’s best interests and provide safety and stability for them in their home lives.