Unborn babies on child protection register on the rise
The number of unborn babies who are on the child protection register because of concerns about abuse or neglect has increased by more than 150 per cent in the past decade.
The latest figures published by the Scottish Government show 98 infants were on the register in 2019 before they were born.
While that is down from the 107 unborn babies who were put on the register the previous year, it compares to a total of 38 in 2009.
Overall there were 2,599 children on the register last year compared to 2,682 a decade ago – although the total last year was down by 3 per cent on the previous year.
Youngsters are put on the register to try to protect them from abuse or neglect, either in cases where this has already taken place or when there is deemed to be a significant likelihood of harm.
In 2019, an estimated 1,273 children aged under five were on the register, with 1,326 youngsters aged five and older also on it.
Concerns about domestic abuse, emotional abuse, neglect and parental substance abuse were the most common reasons for this.
While there was a 3 per cent fall in the number of youngsters on the child protection register last year, the number of children in care fell by 5 per cent. As of 31 July last year, there were 14,015 children who were looked after by the state, with this number having fallen for seven years in a row.
Over the past decade, the proportion of children who are in care, but still living at home has fallen from 39 per cent (5,924 children) in 2009 to 25 per cent (3,536) last year.
In the same period, the number of children living with another family member or friend in a kinship care arrangement has increased from 20 per cent in 2009 (2,993 children) to 29 per cent in 2019 (4,064).
There was no care plan in place for 8 per cent of children who were being looked after by a kinship carer, the figures showed.
The figures also show children are being taken into care at a younger age.