Children's Social Work Statistics Scotland: 2021 to 2022

Headline statistics

Child protection

• on 31 July 2022, 2,031 children were on the Child Protection Register – down 4% on 31 July 2021
• during 2021-22, 3,286 children were newly registered onto the Child Protection Register – down 5% on 2020-21
• the most common concerns identified at Case Conferences of children registered during the year were: domestic abuse, neglect, parental substance misuse and parental mental health problems

Looked after children

• on 31 July 2022, 12,596 children were looked after – down 5% on 31 July 2021
• during 2021-22, 2,909 children started to be looked after – up 1% on 2020-21
• the most common types of placements for looked after children were: kinship care (34%), foster care (33%), and at home with parents (21%).  A smaller proportion of children (10%) were looked after in residential settings

Continuing care

• on 31 July 2022, 696 young people were in continuing care – up 24% on 31 July 2021
• during 2021-22, 255 young people entered continuing care – down 2% on 2020-21

Aftercare

• on 31 July 2022, 8,132 young people were eligible for aftercare services – up 11% on 31 July 2021
• on 31 July 2022, 4,108 young people were receiving aftercare services – up 5% on 2020-21

Secure care accommodation

• during 2021-22, there were an average of 74 residents in secure care accommodation – down 3% from an average of 76 residents in 2020-21
• on average, 41 residents were from within Scotland (down 13% on 2020-21) and 33 were from outside Scotland (up 14% on 2020-21)