Children in care – there’s one in every classroom

‘Given the high costs associated with short care placements, perhaps there is greater scope for the use of supportive in-home interventions.’ Photograph: Elena Vagengeym/Alamy

The figures in your article (One in 52 Blackpool children in care as poverty soars in north of England, 17 April) used to illustrate the north-south divide in the proportion of children placed in care in England are counts of children who are currently in care at a single point in time.

However, these data snapshots do not present the full picture, as they do not account for the complexity of care histories. A child can enter and exit care, sometimes repeatedly throughout childhood, and stay for varying lengths of time.