Children in the family justice system infographic
Our regularly updated infographic highlights what we know, and what we don’t know, about children’s journeys through the family justice system based on national administrative data.
Overview
The infographic tries to answer the question; what do we know about children in the family justice system from national administrative data?
How to read the infographic
The infographic is structured as a series of questions across key points in a child’s journey through the courts and allied systems and services.
- What we know: We have extensive national data which allows us to comprehensively answer the question.
- What we partially know: We have some national data, but it does not allow us to answer the question for both public and private law or for both England and Wales.
- What we don’t know: We have no available national data to answer the question.
These questions are categorised using colours, like this:
Click on any (+) bubble to show the latest available data related that particular question.
What do we include?
In most cases data in the infographic is drawn from publicly available administrative data held by different government departments in England and Wales. In some cases, we draw on one-off analysis of safeguarded administrative data that has been undertaken by researchers.
We have written a downloadable data overview which provides more detail on the national administrative data cited in the infographic.
This infographic was updated on 29 August 2023
What do we know about children known to children’s services?
In most cases in England and Wales the statutory child protection process for a child and their family does not begin with public law proceedings – children are sometimes already known to local children’s services.
What do we know about children and families as they enter the family justice system?
According to data from the Ministry of Justice, in 2020 the family courts received applications about the future relationships of 114,633 individual children in England and Wales.
Linking data about these children will give us a much richer evidence base for determining the effectiveness of the system and identifying ways to improve it
Children and their family circumstances
What do we know about the support families receive on their journey?
Various types of support for families are necessary to prevent family problems form escalating — and, where possible, to be resolved — so that there is no need for an application to be made to the family court.
Potential public/private law overlap
Private law applications to the family court usually involve separated parents who are struggling to agree arrangements for their children. Almost 10 per cent of these applications feature people who are not parents. This is a significant minority of cases, with around 5,500 such applications made each year in England and 300 in Wales. Families involved in child arrangements applications where children are being cared for by adults who are not their parents, may have similar circumstances to public law cases. For example, they are likely to represent situations where there were children’s safety or welfare concerns which indicates a possible overlap with the circumstances of care cases. A recent study found a significant proportion of the types of private law cases that may represent child safety/welfare concerns – at least 38 per cent in England, but potentially substantially more. This is evidence of a potential public/private law overlap. (Cusworth et al. 2023).
What do we know about the children and families in the family justice system?
The family justice system routinely collects data about the way that it works — such as how many cases come before the court and how long each case takes — but does not collect information on children’s and families’ own expectations of system and wether their expectations are met.
What do we know about children after they have contact with the family justice system?
The only indicator or feedback that those working in the family justice system have about the impact of decisions on children is whether they subsequently return to court again. Yet by linking data already collected, we can provide insights into children’s short, medium and long-term outcomes.
Children’s future life chances
Number of children referred
Referrals
In the year ending (before 31 March) 2021, the rate of referrals had the sharpest fall in the series and is now at its lowest point since 2013. The overall fall in referrals has been driven by a 31% decrease in referrals from schools (a fall of just under 36,000 referrals), reflective of the restrictions on school attendance in place for parts of the year.
A re-referral occurs when a child is referred within 12 months of a previous referral.
Re-referrals data is not published for Wales.
Around a quarter of children who had a previous referral (in the last 12 months) are re-referred to children’s social care.
How many children are in need or in need of care and support?
Wales
The Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 came into effect on 6 April 2016. It provided a new legal framework, bringing together and modernising social services law in Wales. As a result, the children in need census is no longer conducted in Wales, although it continues in England, where the 1989 Act still applies. In Wales it has been replaced by the children receiving care and support (CRCS) census, and has new requirements.
The key disadvantage with using the CRCS census data is that it was only collected for the first time in 2016/17, which limits the extent to which trends can be monitored.
At 31 March 2021, the number of children in need decreased and was at its lowest level since 2013. By the end of March 2022, it had risen again to levels last seen in 2018/2019 and this trend has continued into 2023.
The children in need population is ageing and those aged 10 and over now make up the majority in England.
In 2021, young people aged 18 or over who were still receiving care and accommodation or post-care support from children’s social care services accounted for 1 in 8 of children in need. Unborn children accounted for 1 in 50.
Number of children on a child protection plan or register
Wales
In Wales the child protection register (CPR) is a confidential list of all children in the local area who have been identified as being at risk of abuse, neglect or harm under one or more of the following categories:
- physical abuse
- emotional or psychological abuse
- sexual abuse
- financial abuse
- neglect
In Wales the number of children who are on a subsequent protection plan is not reported.
The number and rate (per 10,000 children) of children on protection plans peaked in 2018 (figure at 31 March) and, after falling for three consecutive years, increased in 2022 and the latest figures from 2023 (at 31 March) have remained stable.
Why are children being referred to services?
In England, the proportion of children with abuse and neglect as their primary need has increased by 21% (10 percentage points) between 2012/13 and 2022/23. Meanwhile the proportion of children referred because of their disability, their parents disability or family functioning has decreased in the same period.
The Welsh government does not publish comparable end of assessment data.
Are the reasons for being referred different for older children?
The levels and complexity of need are more diverse amongst older children.
Using the primary need at assessment as a measure, the needs of children aged 10 and older in England are more diverse than those aged nine or younger, including factors relating to family stress, disability/illness, absent parenting and disruptive behaviour.
Similar patterns have been found in Wales.
Children receiving early help?
Statistics on the number of children receiving early help (locally defined offer for children not meeting statutory thresholds) are not collected nationally.
Why is the number of children known to children’s services changing?
How old are the children?
Public law
Just over one in five children in care proceedings is aged under one. However, in recent years there has been an increase in the number of older children (10+) subject to care proceedings.
As in public law, most children involved in private law applications in England and Wales are aged nine or under. However, in recent years we have witnessed a growing proportion of applications being made for older children.
NOTE: 2022 is based on figures for first two quarters
What gender are children?
Boys slightly outnumber girls in the family justice system (for both public and private law).
But girls are more likely than boys to enter the system via public law proceedings in their teenage years.
In 2019 Cafcass amended how they record gender to enable children and young people to indicate if they preferred to identify as being gender neutral, non-binary, or transgender.
This data was published for the first time in 2021. 0.2% children in public law selected this option and 0.1% in private law in 2020/21. These figures increased to 0.4% of children in public law and 0.2% in private law in the year 2021/22.
What is the ethnicity of children and parents?
England
There is limited data about the ethnicity of children and families who come into contact with the family justice system.
This data is not published by the Ministry of Justice or HMCTS. From 2016/17 Cafcass England began recording ethnicity data more systematically.
In 2021/22 ethnicity data was recorded for 96.4% of children in public law proceedings and 86.6% of children in private law proceedings in England.
Cafcass Cymru have recently begun recording ethnicity data, however these data are currently not sufficient quality for research on current or historical trends. Data linkage approaches have been used in Wales to explore the ethnicity of children and families in the family justice system.
Overall, White children and adults are underrepresented in public and private law in England, compared to in the general population. However, differences are seen within the White ethnic group: individuals in the Gypsy or Irish Traveller ethnic group are significantly over-represented in both public and private law.
In both public and private law, Black, African, Caribbean or Black British children and adults, and those from Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups, are overrepresented, while Asian or Asian British children and adults are underrepresented.
There is limited data about the ethnicity of children and families who come into contact with the family justice system.
This data is not published by the Ministry of Justice or HMCTS. From 2016/17 Cafcass England began recording ethnicity data more systematically.
In 2020/21 ethnicity data was recorded for 93.8% of children in public law proceedings and 85.6% of children in private law proceedings.
Cafcass Cymru have recently begun recording ethnicity data, however these data are currently not sufficient quality for research on current or historical trends. Data linkage approaches have been used in Wales to explore the ethnicity of children and families in the family justice system.
In Wales, the largest proportion of children and adults in both public and private law cases are White (95%), which is equivalent to the proportion in the general population.
The proportion of individuals from Black, African, Caribbean or Black British, and Other ethnic groups in both public and private law cases also reflects the general population. This contrasts to the situation in England, where adults and children from Black, African, Caribbean or Black British or Other ethnic groups are overrepresented in public and private law proceedings.
Adults and children from Mixed or multiple ethnic groups are over-represented in both public and private law cases, while those in the Asian or Asian British group are under-represented.
Where do children live?
Public law
In public and private law, there is a clear link between area deprivation and rates of family court applications.
In public and private law, there is a clear link between area deprivation and rates of family court applications.
The geography of private law need is similar, with higher rates in Wales and the north of England, and the lowest rates in London and the South East.
Are children mentally and physically healthy?
Disability
In 2021, for the first time, Cafcass published data about the number of children with disabilities with whom they had worked in 2020/21. The data is not complete, it is recorded for 77% of children in the year 2022/23.
The data shows higher prevalence of children with autistic spectrum disorder in both public and private proceedings compared to all pupils.
A higher proportion of children in public and private law also had physical disabilities recorded compared to all pupils.
Equivalent data is not available for children in Wales.
Using linked administrative data in Wales, research has shown that children involved in public and private law proceedings in Wales are at increased risk of depression and anxiety, compared to similar children not involved with the family courts.
Children subject to care proceedings had twice the risk of depression and 20% higher risk of anxiety than the comparison group.
Children involved in private law proceedings had 60% higher risk of depression and 30% higher risk of anxiety.
Are parents mentally and physically healthy?
Linking family court data to health records in Wales has enabled researchers to better understand the health vulnerabilities of parents involved in proceedings.
Similar analysis has not yet been carried out in England.
Linking family court data to health records in Wales has enabled researchers to better understand the health vulnerabilities of parents involved in proceedings.
Similar analysis has not yet been carried out in England.
Using linked administrative data in Wales, research has identified the health vulnerabilities of mothers whose babies are subject to care proceedings in the first year of life.
Of these women, a very high proportion had significant prior mental health conditions at, or before, attending for antenatal care. In addition, around two-fifths (38%) of mothers were documented as having had a GP or hospital contact or admission relating to substance use prior to the child’s birth. Two thirds (63% and 60% respectively) were recorded as smokers at booking and at the time of birth.
This is not collected for children in private law cases.
Linking family court data to health records in Wales has enabled researchers to better understand the health vulnerabilities of parents involved in proceedings.
Similar analysis has not yet been carried out in England.
Research has identified the increased health vulnerabilities of men and women involved in private family law applications in Wales.
This includes significantly higher prevalence of mental health conditions, self-harm, substance misuse and domestic violence compared to a comparison group of adults, matched according to age, gender and area-level deprivation.
What are the family circumstances?
Income and debt levels
We know very little about the circumstances of families involved with the family justice system, including income, debt and housing.
Information about family and parental circumstances is, in most cases, collected by local and/or national agencies. However, this data is rarely linked to family court data.
These are important gaps. An understanding of family characteristics might allow us to identify better ways to support children and their families at an earlier stage, before they even reach family courts.
Most research to date has used information about the level of deprivation in the area where families live to make assumptions about individual family circumstances.
We know that children and adults involved in both public and private family law are more likely to be living in deprived areas.
Research from Wales has shown that families in public and private law proceedings have shorter average tenancies than families not involved in the FJS.
Research from Wales has shown that families in public and private law proceedings have shorter average tenancies than families not involved in the FJS.
We know very little about the circumstances of families involved with the family justice system, including income, debt and housing.
Information about family and parental circumstances is, in most cases, collected by local and/or national agencies. However, this data is rarely linked to family court data.
These are important gaps. An understanding of family characteristics might allow us to identify better ways to support children and their families at an earlier stage, before they even reach family courts.
In 2019/20, 29% of fathers and 31% of mothers involved in private law applications lived in areas in the most deprived quintile of England, with 52% of fathers and 54% of mothers living in the two most deprived quintiles.
A very similar pattern was found in Wales.
From April 2018 transitional protections were in in place, which continued during the roll out of Universal Credit. These protections mean that pupils eligible for free school meals on or after 1 April 2018 retain their free school meals eligibility, even if their circumstances change.
If a child was eligible for free school meals, they remain eligible until they finish their current phase of schooling (primary or secondary) in 2023.
The introduction of transitional protections is the main reason for the increase in the proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals seen in recent years, as pupils continue to become eligible, but fewer pupils stop being eligible.
Who do children live with?
Parents
Information about family and parental circumstances is, in most cases, collected by local and/or national agencies. However, this data is rarely linked to family court data.
These are important gaps. An understanding of family characteristics might allow us to identify better ways to support children and their families at an earlier stage, before they even reach family courts.
Children involved in public and private law proceedings in Wales are more likely to be living in lone-parent households than their peers. Around 10% of children in public law are living with grandparents.
We know very little about the circumstances of families involved with the family justice system, including income, debt and housing.
Information about family and parental circumstances is, in most cases, collected by local and/or national agencies. However, this data is rarely linked to family court data.
These are important gaps. An understanding of family characteristics might allow us to identify better ways to support children and their families at an earlier stage, before they even reach family courts.
The majority of households have one or two children, but in public law, more families are living with 3+ children. We know the percentage of cases that involve siblings in England.
Are parents receiving parenting and relationship support?
We are unable to judge the effectiveness of interventions as there is limited national data to show what support families may have received before, during, or after public or private law proceedings.
Are parents receiving support for drug and alcohol issues?
There is no national data showing how many parents of children in the family justice system have received help with addiction problems.
We are unable to judge the effectiveness of interventions as there is limited national data to show what support families may have received before, during, or after public or private law proceedings.
Are parents receiving mental health and emotional support?
We are unable to judge the effectiveness of interventions as there is limited national data to show what support families may have received before, during, or after public or private law proceedings.
Are parents receiving support with housing or debt problems?
We currently have no way to track whether support for housing, debt or other issues was given or accessed.
We are unable to judge the effectiveness of interventions as there is limited national data to show what support families may have received before, during, or after public or private law proceedings.
Are parents receiving support with parental conflict?
National data is available from England on the number of parents in private law proceedings referred to Separated Parents Information Programme (SPIP), Child Contact Interventions (CCI) and Domestic Abuse Perpetrator and Safe Contact Programmes (DAPP). In May 2021, the CCI were replaced by the Improving Child and Family Arrangements service (ICFA).
Are parents accessing mediation?
The Legal Aid Agency publishes figures on the number of publicly funded mediations for separating parents.
However, no national data is collected on privately funded mediations.
We are unable to judge the effectiveness of interventions as there is limited national data to show what support families may have received before, during, or after public or private law proceedings.
Data published by the HMCTS shows that the number of mediation starts and agreements has decreased significantly following LASPO in 2012/13.
In the last quarter (January to March 2023), Mediation, Information and Assessment Meetings decreased by 1% compared to the previous year and currently stand at around a third of pre-LASPO levels. Family mediation starts decreased by 14% and total outcomes decreased by 2%, of which 56% were successful agreements, and are now sitting at around half of pre-LASPO levels.
Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Programmes have been severely impacted by the pandemic. By May 2021, 700 families were affected by delays because of the lack of available programmes.
Number of children involved in applications
Wales
Cafcass Cymru publish data about the number of s.31 care applications they receive each year.They do not publish information about the number of children these applications concern.
Public care applications fell from 881 in 2020/21 to 729 in 2021/22
How are hearings being held?
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the majority of family court hearings were moved online. Although social distancing measures have now ended, some hearings are still held remotely (telephone or video) or as ‘hybrid’ hearings (a mix of in-person and remote).
During the pandemic, HMCTS published some data on how hearings were being held. However, the data is no longer published.
How long do cases last?
Private law
Private law proceedings are also taking longer. In 2023, cases took an average of almost 46 weeks to reach final order. This is the longest duration in the time series.
Care proceedings are taking longer. This has been exacerbated by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, 23% of cases were completed within the 26 week limit, compared to 31% in 2020.
Data for public law in 2022 is not available.
Do orders match what was sought?
In public law, the outcomes of applications are binary–an order is granted or refused.
In private law, the majority of applications are granted, but the critical factor is the content of the order.
This is currently unknown for private law on a national level.
In public law, for most order types, the number of orders is greater than the number of applications in each year. The exception is with care orders, where the number of applications far exceeds the number of orders.
Data on orders for 2022 is not available. Applications for Special Guardianship Orders in public law declined by over 60% from 183 in 2021 to 66 in 2022, while the number of applications for Supervision Orders grew from just over 1,500 in 2021 to almost 2,200 in 2022.
In public law, the outcomes of applications are more binary–an order is granted or refused.
In private law, the majority of applications are granted, but the critical factor is the content of the order.
This is currently unknown for private law on a national level.
While applications for Child Arrangement Orders (spends time with) declined by over 6% from 2021 to 2022, the number of orders granted fell by almost 12%. A larger decline in orders relative to applications was also seen in Child Arrangement Orders (lives with) with a very slight 1% decline in the number of applications from 2021 to 2022, compared to a 7.4% fall in orders granted.
In private law, the majority of applications are granted, but the critical factor is the content of the order. This is currently unknown for private law on a national level.
Have public law orders and private law applications changed over time?
Public law
According to a recent one-off analysis, children are more likely to be subject to care orders than any other order, however in recent years there has been a sharp increase in the use of special guardianship orders (SGOs). Over the same period the proportion of children placed for adoption has decreased.
What are families’ experiences?
How do we know whether justice is being served by a system that has such limited feedback from those affected by it?
Are people legally represented in court?
In 2023, in only 19% of cases disposed were both parties legally represented. The vast majority of cases therefore involve at least one party representing themselves, with 39% of cases having no parties represented.
Research has found that the majority of litigants in person experience fear and anxiety, confusion, marginalisation, and frustration with a slow, time-consuming court process.
How do children participate in proceedings?
A child’s right to participate and have their voice heard in private law proceedings is acknowledged in legislation and guidance – both as a way of informing welfare-based decisions and upholding their rights.
There are several ways that children may be able to participate in proceedings – including through a section 7 report (either from Cafcass or the local authority), a section 37 report, a rule 16.4 appointment, children writing to or meeting with the judge, giving evidence, engaging with experts such as psychologists and independent social workers, and the use of child-friendly judgments.
Analysis of Cafcass England/Cafcass Cymru data has shown that, for cases that started in 2019/20, around half of the children – 53.9% in England and 47.5% in Wales – had at least one marker of participation within three years of the case start date. This means that for almost half of the 67,000 children in England and Wales who were involved in a private law case starting in 2019, there is no indication that they participated in their case.
In England, two-fifths of children aged 10 to 13 and a greater proportion of older teenagers had no indication that they had formally participated in proceedings. In Wales a similar pattern is seen. The level of participation was lowest for those who were the only child in their case in England and Wales.
Although the study was not able to capture all possible participation, this suggests that strikingly few children have a voice in proceedings.
How many children are deprived of their liberty?
The term ‘deprivation of liberty’ comes from Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which provides that everyone, of whatever age, has the right to liberty. A deprivation of liberty occurs when restrictions are placed on a child’s liberty beyond what would normally be expected for a child of the same age.
The family courts can authorise a deprivation of liberty under section 25 (s.25) of the Children Act 1989 (and section 119 (s.119) of the Social Services and Well-being Act (Wales) 2014), which places a looked-after child (age 10–17) in a registered secure children’s home, or via the inherent jurisdiction of the high court, which can be used when none of the other statutory mechanisms apply, and authorises the placement of a looked-after child in an alternative, unregulated secure placement.
In July 2022 the President of the Family Division launched the national deprivation of liberty court. Based at the Royal Courts of Justice, it deals with all new applications seeking authorisation to deprive children of their liberty under the inherent jurisdiction and will run for a 12-month pilot phase finishing in June 2023. Nuffield Family Justice Observatory was invited to collect and publish data on these applications.
Since July 2022, Nuffield Family Justice Observatory have published monthly briefings highlighting high level data trends.
In July 2022 the President of the Family Division launched the national deprivation of liberty court. Based at the Royal Courts of Justice, it deals with all new applications seeking authorisation to deprive children of their liberty under the inherent jurisdiction and will run for a 12-month pilot phase initially. The Nuffield Family Justice Observatory was invited to collect and publish data on these applications.
Do cases return to the family justice system?
Private law
Recent analysis of data from England shows the overall level of return between 24% and 27% of private law applications between 2013/14 and 2019/20 were made by an applicant who had been involved in a previous application within the last three years.
In Wales, there is a similar pattern of recurrence. Around a third (31%–34%) of private law applications between 2014 and 2018 were made by an applicant who had been involved in a previous application within the last three years.
Around 4% of children in private law cases return to the family justice system via public law proceedings.
Between 2008 and 2016 return cases made up 6% of total public law demand.
Approximately one in four mothers involved in care proceedings return within seven years.
Are children doing well in school?
Standard at Key Stage 2 (England)
There is evidence of a stark attainment gap among looked-after children and children in need, compared to the general population.
DfE data also shows that looked-after children are almost four times more likely to have a special educational need (SEN) than all children. In 2021/22, 57% of looked-after children are classed as receiving SEN support, compared with 16% of all pupils.
We do not have comparable data for children involved in private law proceedings.
In 2019, 41% of previously looked-after pupils reached the expected level in reading, writing and maths at Key Stage 2. This figure is lower than the 65% for non-looked-after children but higher than that for looked-after children and children in need. Decreases in average attainment scores have fallen for all groups from 2020/21 to 2021/22 with the largest falls for looked after children (with average scores falling by over 12%, compared to a 4% decline for all children).
Each of the pupil level attainment statistics have increased – more than would be expected in a typical year – between the 2018/19 and 2019/20 academic years. This reflects the change to the way GCSE grades were awarded rather than improvements in pupil performance. As a result the 2019/20 attainment data should not be directly compared to data from previous years for the purpose of measuring changes in student performance.
Absences for almost all groups of children increased in 2021/22 compared to the previous year. For example the overall absence rate for all pupils increased from 4.7% in 2020/21 to 7.6% in 2021/22. Absences range from 7.6% on average for all pupils to a high of almost 20% for children on a protection plan. Children who had been looked after for more than 12 months had lower absences than those who had been looked after for less than 12 months, though the difference was smaller compared to the previous year.
Absences range from 4.7% on average for all pupils to a high of almost 15% for children on a protection plan. Children who had been looked after for more than 12 months had lower absences than those who had been looked after for less than 12 months – 5.1% compared to 13.4%
Do children come into contact with the youth justice system?
In England, information on offending rates is collected for children aged 10 years or over – 51,960 children in 2022. Of these, the proportion convicted or subject to youth cautions or youth conditional cautions during 2022 was 2%, as in 2021 – down from 3% in the 2 previous years, and down from 4% in 2018. In 2022 this equates to 860 children. Percentages were similar in Wales in 2021. Numbers of children convicted may continue to be affected by court delays during the pandemic.
Males are more likely to offend than females – 3% of males were convicted or subject to youth cautions or youth conditional cautions during the year compared to 1% of females – a similar pattern to previous years.
Do children stay in education, employment and training?
We currently do not have national data from England or Wales on earnings or the occupation of formerly looked-after children.
We do have data for England on the activity of care leavers. The proportion of formerly looked-after children that are in education, in training or employment or not in education, employment or training (NEET) aged 19-21 has been around 40% for the past five years, though did fall slightly in 2022 to 38%. In 2022, the proportion of 19-21 year old care leavers in education is 30% and those in employment or training is 24%. Up-to-date Welsh data, and data for private law, is currently unavailable.
What are children’s health outcomes?
Up-to-date health checks
Data for England captures the percentage of children under 5 who have had their annual health assessment, data for Wales captured the percentage of children under 5 who have had their development assessment
Children in care in 1971 were around one and half times more likely to die prematurely compared with those who were not in care. By 2001, the risk of dying increased four and half times.
In 2021/22, 3% of looked after children in England were identified as having a substance misuse problem, compared to 7% in Wales in 2020/21.
We do not have comparable data for children involved in private law proceedings.
Substance misuse is defined as ‘intoxication by (or regular excessive consumption or and/or dependence on) psychoactive substances, leading to social, psychological, physical or legal problems’. It includes problematic use of both legal and illegal drugs (including alcohol when used in combination with other substances). ‘Substance’ refers to both drugs and alcohol but not tobacco. Interventions may include advice, guidance or therapeutic support.
In England, we know the number and proportion of children who have socio-emotional issues that are a ‘cause for concern’ as identified by the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). In 2021/22, a SDQ score was reported for 77% of looked after children in England aged 5 to 16 years (43,290 children).
37% had a SDQ score that was a ’cause for concern’, a slight decrease from 38% in 2019/20. A further 12% of children had a ‘borderline’ score.
In Wales, a different measure is used based on social services department records for children aged 10 or over. This includes mental health problems diagnosed by a medical practitioner and children receiving Child and Adolescent Mental Health Support (CAMHS) or those on a waiting list for services. In Wales, 16% of looked after children aged 10 or above had ‘mental health ill health’ in 2020/21, up from 13% in 2019/20.
Where are children living?
Wales
The number of children in placements as at 31 March has risen year on year – by over 7% from 2019-2023 to almost 84,000. The share of children in foster placements has fallen slightly, while the proportion of children in secure units, children’s homes and semi-independent living accommodation has risen to 17%. The share of children in other types of placements including with their parents has been stable over the past 5 years.
Do children form good relationships?
Having supportive, strong and healthy relationships is vital for children’s development and mental wellbeing. But information about children’s relationships is not measured by the system.
