This UK-based study aimed to develop an explanatory theory and model of the processes involved in fostering looked after children and the relationship between the roles of parent and professional.

New data published by the Office for National Statistics has found that children in care were more at risk of interacting with the criminal justice system during early adulthood than their peers. More than half (52%) of looked-after children had a criminal conviction by the age of 24 years compared with 13% of children who had not been in care.

This report highlights the recommendations and priorities that EU decision-makers and national governments can do to support the most vulnerable children and prevent widening inequalities. 

Almost 20% of unaccompanied child migrants from Albania taken in by Kent County Council this year have disappeared, the BBC has found. The local authority took in 197 Albanian children up to 31 October, 39 of whom have gone missing.

Ofsted is introducing a new, separate judgement to the framework for inspecting local authority children’s services (ILACS) specifically about the experiences and progress of care leavers.

The murders of two children revealed shocking shortcomings in the UK’s social care system. This article unpacks what is being done about it.

This analysis conducted by the UK Office for National Statistics explores the education and social care background of care-experienced young people in England who were imprisoned at any point up to the age of 24 years. 

Children in care are 10 times more likely to end up in prison by the time they reach 24 than those who grew up outside the system, official figures suggest. The study by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published today found that looked-after children were more at risk of coming into contact with the criminal justice system during early adulthood than their peers.

Department for Education’s (DfE) statistics on looked-after children in England, released earlier this month, showed the number of unaccompanied children in care grew by 1,430 in the year to March 2022, surpassing the overall increase of 1,390 in the care population. The latter rose for the 14th consecutive year, by 2%, to 82,170.

No part of Scotland was “immune” to abuse of children in foster care over more than eight decades, an inquiry has heard. The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (SCAI) has been told of physical, sexual, psychological and emotional abuse, neglect and exploitation since public hearings for the foster care case study opened in May.