There are currently around 2,000 young people in the care of the local authority in Birmingham (of whom around 400 are aged 0-4) The local authority has a duty to act as a corporate parent Only a small proportion are now placed in childrens homes, a growing number are fostered Their success is key to tackling social exclusion nationally At the moment only around 1 in 4 children leaves care with qualifications There is often less home-school contact Many young people leaving care are still more likely to have disrupted education, poor literacy and numeracy, and to be homeless at 18 All young people are more likely to succeed where positive work is done to increase access to books, holiday activities and support services This group of young people is as varied as any other, and equally capable of success They are already benefiting from a number of activities supported by this Partnership - increasing access to ICT; providing more books; better guidance; more summer school places etc.