At WTB Solicitors LLP our hard working, specialist care solicitors regularly help parents whose children have been placed in foster care. We know how hard it is for both children and parents to be separated from each other and for the children to be cared for by someone else. It can be even harder for parents when that child then goes missing from care.

Ofsted have released their annual statistics on fostering provision across the country which show that 85,890 children and young people were placed in foster care in 2014-15. Ofsted have revealed that of those children; 5,055 children went missing from foster care. The figures for the previous year showed that 4,245 children went missing in 2013-2014 meaning that there has been a 19% rise in just one year. The number of “missing incidents” has also increased by 29% from the previous year, to a total of 17,175 incidents.

The statistics show that children most commonly went missing due to contact with family and friends. However, there were around a quarter of instances where the agency did not know why the child had gone missing; this was particularly the case for children in local authority foster placements.

If your child is in foster care and there are difficulties with the placement contact our experienced child care solicitors for advice on 0161 224 3311.