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Being counted? Examining the prevalence of looked‐after disabled children and young people across the UK
Author(s) -
Hill Louise,
Baker Claire,
Kelly Bernadette,
Dowling Sandra
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
child and family social work
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.912
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1365-2206
pISSN - 1356-7500
DOI - 10.1111/cfs.12239
Subject(s) - state (computer science) , disabled people , psychology , residential care , developmental psychology , gerontology , medicine , psychiatry , computer science , algorithm , cerebral palsy
Since the 1970s, there has been growing academic interest in children and young people living in state care and, more recently, in the lives of disabled children. However, there has been little attention on the lives of disabled children who are looked after by the state. This paper compares and critiques what is known about the numbers of disabled children who are looked after in E ngland, N orthern I reland, S cotland and W ales. We discuss the conceptual and methodological limitations of systematically collecting data on disabled children in state care across the UK . We argue that to ensure that the rights of disabled children in state care are identified, acknowledged and upheld, ‘being counted’ is a fundamental first step.