Children's Social Work Statistics Scotland, 2018-2019
The Scottish Government has today (31 March 2020) published the latest official Children's Social Work Statistics, which includes data on children and young people who were formally looked after, were placed under child protection measures, or were in secure care at some point between 1 August 2018 and 31 July 2019.
As of 31 July 2019, there were 14,015 children and young people looked after in Scotland, a fall of 723 or 5% on the previous year. There were also 3% fewer children (2,599) on the child protection register. 546 children were both looked after and on the child protection register.
This information shows that for the seventh year in a row the number of children looked has fallen. There was a slight increase in how many children were placed with kinship carers, and placed with prospective adopters, while fewer children were placed in residential schools.
The information was collected from local authorities and secure units. Glasgow City Council did not provide data for the period of 1 August 2017 to 31 July 2018, and national figures for 2017-18 were estimated based on the previous year and the data from other local authorities.