When Lack of Data is Data: Do We Really Know who our Looked After Children are?

There are now higher than ever numbers of children in public care in the developed world adn increasing concerns across Europe to examine the differences in policies and practices and their impact on children's lives. The small-scale research reported in this paper was commissioned by an agency in the UK concerned with addressing the challenge of raising the attainment of 'looked-after children', a term used in the UK to refer to children who are in public care. The word 'agency' is used throughout to preserve anonymity and confidentiality for the commissioning body, as well as for the social services departments (who deal with the social work and social care services for chlidren and families), local education authorities, schools and students involved. The aim of the research was to identify a specified cohort of 15-16 year old (Year 11) looked-after children and describe as closely as possible the composition of teh age group and the key features of their cases as regards educational experience and attainment. Data analysed consisted of lists of looked-after children provided by the relevant local authority/authorities. as well as a samnple of school files for 59 of these students. The most important finding to emerge was a lack of data. The findings highlight the challenge that faces professionals in teh field, in identifying and tracking the needs of this particular group of pupils.