Who are the children?

Worcestershire County Council is currently responsible for over 600 "Looked After Children" (LAC) – you may be familiar with the phrase 'children in care' but this is used less often nowadays.

Generally we prefer for children and young people to be cared for within a family, with fewer children placed in residential care.

Children and young people who become looked after by foster carers will have come from unsettled family situations. They come into our care for a variety of reasons, and are likely to have emotional and behavioural difficulties as a result of early experiences.

There is no such thing as a typical fostering situation and caring for a child or children could last anything from a few days to several years. A child may need to be looked after away from home for any number of reasons; quite often it is because the birth parents are not able to care for their child, possibly due to mental health problems or the misuse of drugs or alcohol. Sometimes parents do not know how to provide a child with a safe, caring environment - as a result the child may have suffered abuse.

Sometimes a child might come to the attention of Worcestershire County Council following an order of the court. Or it could be because the family just needs some extra support to get them through a difficult time.

Most children will have experienced early adversity and may display a range of behaviours that do not make it easy for them to fit into a family initially.