Claim: " number of children in care at the end of October 2023 was 17% higher than the last official figure prior to COVID."
Fact-check: Northern Ireland care system: has the number of children in care increased by 17% since the start of the pandemic?  - FactCheckNI
Verdict: this is accurate. there was a 17.2% increase in children in care between september 2019 and october 2023, according to data from the department of health. the number of children in care has been increasing for over a decade. the very latest figures show an even steeper increase.
Organisation: FactCheckNI
Author: Unknown
Date published: 2024-10-31T00:00:00