THE number of children in the care of Blackburn with Darwen Council has fallen by 50 since the start of the year.
It now stands at 346, bucking the national trend.
Borough Children's Services has told council colleagues: "Recent regional analysis and national publicity has pointed to increasing demand pressures on children's services.
" In particular, the North West region has seen rising numbers of children in care over the past 12 months, with particular pressure around children and young people in older age groups with very complex social and behavioural issues.
The number of children in our care is 346, a fall of 50 since the start of the new year, reflecting the impact of several recent initiatives such as family group conferencing and the complex case multi-agency hub for high-risk domestic violence cases.
"The number of children subject to child protection plans remains high and steady at 263, and the total number of children and young people open to Children’s Social Care remains high at 1,749.
"In addition, 591 children are being supported by early help services, six have been adopted since April 2017 and 19 are currently in adoptive placements."
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