Looked After and Accommodated Children
The local authority has certain responsibilities towards looked after children and young people and Stirling Council are promoting the concept of corporate parenting and endeavouring to make that a reality through our approach to integrated service delivery. This is in addition to those rights and responsibilities of the person with parental responsibility for a child. Every looked after child will have an allocated social worker who will provide more information about the support available. We also support children and young people who have been looked after. Contact Children's Services Social Work, Drummond House, Wellgreen, Stirling FK8 2EG, tel: 01786 471177.
The term looked after was introduced in 1995 when the Children (Scotland) Act came into force. It's a law which aims to promote children and young people's rights to protection, to participation and to provision of various services.
Whereas under previous law we used to talk about a child or young person being in care, the Children (Scotland) Act replaced this with looked after. Looked after children and young people are those who:
- are being provided with accommodation
- are on supervision requirements (for example, by way of a Children's Hearing)
- are under Child Protection orders or warrants
What does it mean to be accommodated?
Accommodated means a placement provided by the local authority for a period of more than 24 hours and can include placements with related carers, foster carers, residential units or residential schools. Children and young people receiving respite are accommodated during the respite period.
