Definition of Term: Previously Looked-After Child
The Virtual School Team provide support and advice to education settings and professionals who are working with children who have previously been in care.
Definition of a Previously Looked-After Child – explained
- Definition of a child in care
A child who has been in the care of their local authority for more than 24 hours is known as a looked-after child. Looked-after children are also often referred to as children in care, a term which many children and young people prefer.
Source: https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/children-and-families-at-risk/looked-after-children
- Definition of a Previously Looked-After Child
Previously looked-after children are those who are no longer looked after by a local authority in England and Wales (as defined by the Children Act 1989 or Part 6 of the Social Services and Well- being (Wales) Act 2014) because they are the subject of:
- an adoption
- special guardianship or
- child arrangements order; or
- were adopted from ‘state care’ outside England and Wales. ‘State care’ is care provided by a public authority, a religious organisation, or any other organisation whose sole or main purpose is to benefit society.
Promoting the education of looked-after and previously looked-after children statutory guidance
- A child in care returning to birth family
A child who has returned home to live with birth parent(s), having been in care (as defined by the Children Act 1989 or Part 6 of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014), is not defined as a previously looked-after child.