Nursery World - Facts and figures on children in care

* At any one time local authorities in England look after 58,000 children. * About 20 per cent of children in local authority care - over 10,000 - are four years old or younger.

* About 20 per cent of children in local authority care - over 10,000 - are four years old or younger.

* Research suggests that 70 to 80 per cent need some form of mental health input.

* A staggering 70 per cent leave school without any qualifications.

* Children are, on average, looked after in temporary foster families for as long as 14 months before the search for a new adoptive family starts. Finding the right adoptive family takes on average another seven months.

* The older the child, the less chance of adoption.

* At December 2000, only 4.7 per cent of children in care were adopted.

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