Latest figures on referrals, assessments and young people subject of Child Protection Plans.
The Department for Children, Schools and Families has published the latest figures on referrals, assessments and young people who are the subject of a Child Protection Plan or are on child protection registers in England, for the year ending 31 March 2007.
There were 545,000 referrals to social services departments in the year ending 31 March 2007, compared to the previous year's figure of 569,300 (in other recent years the figures have fluctuated from between 550,000 and 570,000). Of the 2007 referrals, 23% were repeat referrals within 12 months of a previous referral, the same as the previous year.
Of the 305,000 initial assessments completed in the year, 208,700 (68%) were completed within 7 working days of referral. This compares with 194,900 (65%) out of a total of 300,200 for the previous year.
Of the children who were the subject of a plan at 31 March 2007, 2,400 (9%) were also looked after by local authorities. This compares with 2,600 (10%) for 2006. 78% of looked after children who were the subject of a plan were in foster placements and 12% were placed with their own parents. Five years ago 76% of looked after children were in foster placements and 15% were placed with their own parents.
Neglect is the most common category of abuse under which children became the subject of a plan, 44%, one percentage point more than in 2006. The percentage of children who became subject to a plan due to emotional abuse increased from 21% in 2006 to 23% in 2007. Children becoming the subject of a plan due to physical abuse decreased between 2006 and 2007, from 16% to 15% respectively.
23 September 2007