ALMOST one in three children in the care of the Children’s Minister were living in off-Island facilities at the start of June, new figures have revealed.
As of 1 June 2026, 17 of Jersey’s 57 looked-after children were accommodated outside the Island. This compared with 14 of 61 children at the beginning of January 2024.
The number in off-Island facilities peaked at 19 between January and April this year, having risen sharply during the second half of 2025. There were 12 children placed away from Jersey in June 2025, increasing to 18 by October.
Meanwhile, the number of children in foster-care placements has generally declined.
The figures were published this week in response to a freedom-of-information request, which revealed that there were 21 children living in foster care at the start of June, compared with 24 in January 2024.
The figure reached a high of 30 in September 2024 before falling to 18 at several points during 2025 and 2026.
Overall, the number of children looked after by the minister fluctuated between 52 and 65 during the two-and-a-half-year period covered by the request.
The response also revealed that the Children and Families directorate’s total annual salary bill rose by more than £4.2 million – or 13% – between 2024 and 2025.
Salary spending increased from £33,013,285 to £37,306,741. However, the government declined to provide a breakdown by role and responsibility, saying compiling the information would exceed the 12-and-a-half-hour limit for freedom-of-information requests.
The department was also unable to provide figures showing how many different social workers had been appointed to each child since they entered care. It said the information was not held in a recordable format and that officials would have to examine every child’s file and create a new dataset.
Current fostering capacity includes ten households approved to care for one child and 11 able to take two. Fewer than five households have capacity for three children.
