Children in care at risk of offending

Looked-after children are three times more
likely to commit an offence than children not in care, according to
the latest Department of Heath statistics on outcomes for
looked-after children.

Ten
per cent of looked-after children aged 10 or over were cautioned or
convicted of an offence in the year ending September 2001 – three
times the rate for all children of this age, the report
found.

There
were 43,400 children looked after by English local authorities in
September 2001, compared with 42,200 the previous year. Of those,
33,800 were of school age. Twenty-six per cent had special
educational needs, 12 per cent missed at least 25 days of school
and 1 per cent had received a permanent exclusion.

Whereas 95 per cent of all school
children obtained at least one GCSE or GNVQ, only 50 per cent of
children in care gained one qualification. Eight per cent of
looked-after children obtained five GCSEs at grades A to C,
compared with 48 per cent of all children. Seventy-two per cent of
school leavers and 53 per cent of children in care remained in
full-time education.

–
Outcome Indicators for Looked-After Children: Twelve months to
30 September 2001, England from www.doh.gov.uk/public/oi2001.htm