With statistics showing the highest number of children in care since 1987, an expert has called for improved training to help teachers better support looked-after students.
Figures released by the Department for Education (DfE) this week show that as of March this year, 65,520 children were in care.
Of these, only 3,050 children have been adopted, while 74 per cent of children in care are in foster homes. The statistics also show that children have to wait an average of two years and seven months to be adopted.
Also, a third of children leaving care are not in education, employment or training – an increase of one per cent from 2010.
Lorraine Petersen, chief executive of special needs organisation nasen, told Headteacher Update that advances in social care and healthcare had enabled better identification perhaps leading to an increase in the numbers.
As a result, she said that improved teacher training needs to be available as many of these children – and their parents – have “complex behavioural issues".
She explained: “We have far more complex behavioural issues (in homes) now to do with mental health, drugs and an alcohol culture and more teenage pregnancies, all of which means children can go into care. Sometimes the parents have mental or behavioural difficulties and these difficulties are passed on to their children leading to them being placed into care.
“Children that are in foster houses or care homes will often live a completely different life to the 'normal' family home and all that stress after school can lead to anxiety and challenging issues which can mean when students go into school they look to get rid of that frustration.
“More training for teachers needs to be available so they can tackle this as well as help identify any problems and know how to react to challenging behaviour. Teachers need better training so they can be more alert to these problems. In the majority of cases they won't be able to work with families so they need to learn certain skills to help a student who is in foster care."
Children's minister, Tim Loughton, said: “The statistics are a timely reminder that we must redouble our efforts to do better for children in care. It's worrying that the number of adoptions has continued to decline, and it's simply not good enough for vulnerable children to be waiting well over two years to be adopted. It's also concerning that for those children leaving care, around a third are not in education, employment or training – much higher than the general population."
Iain Anderson, chief of the National Fostering Agency, added: “We've seen record numbers of referrals over the past year and are working closely with our local authority customers to find the best possible solutions for looked-after children. Our commitment is to improve the lives of children and find the best possible foster carers, who can provide a stable home for these vulnerable young people."