Looked-after children services under review

The government has published new information about the progress
of services for looked-after children.

The Children Act Report 2000 details information in 11 key areas
and, for the first time, contains new information, including data
on ethnicity from the DoH’s Children in Need census in 2000.

The report shows there are fewer children entering care each
year, but those that do have greater needs and so are staying
longer.

Health minister Jacqui Smith commented: “We all want children
who are looked after by their local authority to have the same
chances that any parent would want for their own child. It is our
job to make sure this happens.”

Statistical data, inspection findings and recent research
information are pulled together to provide an overview of the
effectiveness of the Children Act 1989.

The report details progress on key targets including educational
attainment for looked after children and re-registrations on child
protection registers.

The target to reduce the number of children who are registered
more than once has been met, it reveals.

It provides a picture of the full range of children served by
councils including the reason for needing a service, age, ethnicity
and costings. And it also includes information about the levels of
staffing and qualifications of local authority social care staff in
children’s homes.

The Children Act Report 2000 from www.doh.gov.uk

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