Police pledge to help improve lives and futures of ‘Care Experienced Young People’

Police Scotland is one of a number of agencies who have a responsibility to improve the lives and futures of Scotland’s looked after children and young people under the age of 26, or as young people prefer themselves to be referred to as “Care Experienced Young People”.

The Local Picture is;

1,362 Children are looked after in Edinburgh

348 of these children are supported at home

1,014 children are looked after away from the family home:

• 43% of these are in foster care

• 20% of these are living in kinship care

• 8% of these are in some form of residential care unit

(Data from Edinburgh Local Authority March 2018)

Outcomes for children who are care experienced can sometimes be less positive than those who are not in care, but with partners working together and providing support, this can be significantly improved.

Around 90% of children and young people who are referred to the Children’s Reporter are done so on grounds of care and protection for such reasons as neglect, parental drug and alcohol addiction and parental mental health, and many other factors out with their control.

Around only 18% of cases involve young people being referred on grounds of committing a criminal offence