Blackpool Council Annual Health Report 2019 Blackpool Council Annual Health Report PAGES | Page 24

CHILDHOOD ADVERSITY AND EXPERIENCE OF
THE CARE SYSTEM
Blackpool has the highest proportion of looked after children in the country with 185
children in care per 10,000 population aged under 18 years. Children and young people in
care are among the most socially excluded children in England. Entry into the care system
is associated with significant inequalities in health and social outcomes compared with
all children and this contributes to poor health and social exclusion of care leavers later
in life 13 .
In general, the reasons why children enter the care system is through safeguarding
mechanisms designed to protect them from adversities such as abuse, neglect and
exposure to domestic violence or drug or alcohol misuse. To compound these early
life experiences, children who come into foster households are typically from families/
communities, which already struggle with factors that correlate with social exclusion
(unemployment, poor skills, low income, poor housing, high crime and bad health).
Children in care often have multiple risk factors that contribute to limiting educational
attainment. A higher proportion of children in care have special educational needs and
poorer emotional and behavioural health, again affecting educational attainment and in
turn health outcomes in later life.
CATEGORIES OF ACES
Abuse
Verbal
Physical
Sexual
Household dysfunction
Divorce/
Separation
Domestic
Violence
Mental
ill-health
Alcohol
misuse
13. https://www.thetcj.org/foster-care/children-and-foster-care-inclusion-exclusion-and-life-chances
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Drug
misuse
Parental
incarceration