Introduction

Originally published in 1968, the study described in this title began in a very small way in late 1960. At that time some Oxfordshire county councillors and children’s department officials were very conscious that the number of children in care in the county was high in comparison with the national average. This meant that expenditure was also high. The County’s position, however, was not unique. Oxford City was in a similar position, but other neighbours did not appear to have the same problem. A small research project was launched to investigate and it soon became apparent that there was a large and complex problem to be solved. The problem was of striking, persistent and puzzling variations in the proportion of children in care in the different local authority children’s departments of England and Wales. This seemed to warrant a larger investigation on a country-wide basis and this book outlines the findings of that project.