Looked after children 

Many children have experiences which result in the need for extra care, support or protection from public agencies. In very serious cases, some children become 'looked after'.

Under the Children (Scotland) Act 1995, 'looked after children' are defined as those in the care of their local authority – sometimes referred to as a 'corporate parent'.

This process most often happens through Scotland’s Children’s Hearings System, which can make a compulsory supervision requirement order requiring that the local authority is responsible for looking after and helping a particular child or young person.

This means that some looked after children in Scotland are still living at home, but with regular contact from social services.

Alternatively, some children are accommodated away from home on a voluntary arrangement without a compulsory supervision order.

Looked after children are also often referred to as children in care, a term which many children and young people prefer.

There are a variety of reasons why children and young people enter care.

• The child’s parents might have agreed to this – for example, if they are too unwell to look after their child or if their child has a disability and needs respite care.

• The child could be an unaccompanied asylum seeker, with no responsible adult to care for them.

• Children's services may have intervened because they felt the child was at significant risk of harm. If this is the case the child is usually the subject of a legal order.

A child stops being looked after when they are adopted, return home or turn 18. However local authorities in all the nations of the UK are required to support children leaving care at 18 until they are at least 21. This may involve them continuing to live with their foster family.

Most children in care say that their experiences are good and that it was the right choice for them (Biehal et al, 2014). But more needs to be done to ensure that all looked after children are healthy and safe, have the same opportunities as their peers and can move successfully into adulthood. 

Vulnerabilities:

Previous experiences of abuse: Children may enter care for all sorts of reasons. But many enter because they have been abused or neglected. These experiences can leave children with complex emotional and mental health needs, which can increase their vulnerability to abuse (Bazalgette, Rahilly, and Trevelyan, 2015; Luke et al, 2014).

Peer violence and abuse: Many looked after children have previous experiences of violence, abuse or neglect. Some may display behavioural problems and attachment difficulties (problems forming secure relationships) which are associated with their negative life experiences. This means that some find it hard to develop positive peer relationships. The care system can struggle to provide effective management and interventions to address these problems (Bazalgette, Rahilly, and Trevelyan, 2015).

Placement instability and disrupted relationships with caregivers: Many children move repeatedly in and out of care, or between placements. Placement breakdowns can have a detrimental impact on a child's emotional wellbeing and mental health. It can also prevent them forming stable relationships with the adults who could help protect them (Rahilly and Hendry, 2014).

Going missing: Looked after children are more likely to go missing than their peers. Children may run away from care for all sorts of reasons. These include: wanting to return home to their family being unhappy or bored in their care placement feeling like they didn't have enough control over their own lives. Children who go missing are at greater risk of physical abuse, grooming and sexual exploitation (Coffey and All Party Parliamentary Group for Runaway and Missing Children and Adults and All Party Parliamentary Group for Looked after Children and Care Leavers, 2012).

Impact of being looked after 

Looked after children come from a range of different backgrounds and have varied experiences of care.

Research suggests that when looked after children are compared with children in the general population, they tend to have poorer outcomes in a number of areas such as educational attainment and mental and physical health (Rahilly and Hendry, 2014).

Each child has their own different and specific sets of needs. However research can give us an insight into how their experiences before and during care makes them a particularly vulnerable group of young people.

Children who are looked after may be at particular risk of sexual abuse from other children and young people in placements, as well as risk of child sexual exploitation.

Situations where children have been sexually abused by carers and other adults who were there to care for and protect them have occurred.

Prevention of sexual abuse and exploitation amongst looked after children

A 2018 publication by the Care Inspectorate looked at evidence from inspections of care services for children and young people in Scotland in relation to preventing and responding to child sexual exploitation.

The report found that services working with looked after children needed to:

• ensure all staff are familiar with child sexual exploitation and the associated risks/ vulnerabilities.

• development of a child sexual exploitation policy

• ensure an effective child sexual exploitation risk assessment framework/risk management plan is in place for a young person’s safety if concerns are raised

• ensure developed child sexual exploitation policies are robust and in-line with current practices.

Better outcomes for children were in relation to prevention of sexual abuse were achieved in organisations and agencies where:

• staff had received child sexual exploitation training and as a result they demonstrated a good awareness of the risk and vulnerability indicators

• protocols were in place with Police Scotland and social work services and this multi-agency approach was working well to protect children and young people

• managers were ensuring their service’s child sexual exploitation practices were well audited and managed, and ensuring that where issues may arise the service could review and improve to minimise the risk to children and young people.

• High quality care and support is provided often associated with effective risk assessments, often with collaborative working by police, social work and other agencies, and staff who are confident in putting their training into practice.

• Multi-agency working exists, allowing a wide policy overview of the risks which contribute to and are associated with child sexual exploitation. This often requires the involvement of practitioners from beyond social work and children’s services.

• Children and young people are actively involved in assessments of risk and can contribute to effective and innovative strategies to reduce or prevent harm The report can be read here:

Further guidance for childcare practitioners in Scotland can be found here: 

Comparisons with other groups of children

Research suggests that when looked after children are compared with children in the general population, they tend to have poorer outcomes in a number of areas such as educational attainment and mental and physical health (Rahilly and Hendry, 2014).

However, this is not necessarily the case when they are compared with other groups of children who are likely to have had similar experiences, such as children in need.

One study, which analysed Government data, found that looked after children who were continuously in care in England had better educational attainment than children in need (Sebba et al, 2015).

Further information

CELCIS is a leading improvement and innovation centre in Scotland. They improve children's lives by supporting people and organisations to drive long-lasting change in the services they need, and the practices used by people responsible for their care. There is a considerable amount of useful information on the CELSIS website

The International Centre at University of Bedfordshire is committed to increasing understanding of, and improving responses to child sexual abuse and exploitation. A range of reports and resources are available on the website.