Family Law

There has been a decrease in the number of unoccupied places, available for children to be placed into. Although the number of approved fostering places has increased by 1% since 31 March 2018, the number of children entering foster care has increased at a faster pace (3%). This means that there were fewer places available for children to be placed in on 31 March 2019 than the same date in 2018.

The gap between young people Staying Put in LAs and IFAs continues to exist. Despite the gap between the percentage of young people Staying Put in LAs and IFAs closing slightly this year, it remains substantial at 16 percentage points.

The proportion of unplanned endings to placements that resulted in the child moving within 24 hours has increased. During 2018 to 2019, around 5,800 children and young people experienced unplanned endings. Of these children and young people, 31% were moved within 24 hours. This is an increase of 6 percentage points compared with the previous year, and 10 percentage points from 2016 to 2017.

Of all missing children, almost 1 in 5 were missing for over 1 week in total. In 2018 to 2019, of the 6,395 children who went missing, 19% (1,190) were missing for over 1 week in total.

You can read the full release from the ONS here.