hould not be included in the census. For the children in need census, post adoption support does not cover payments made, in accordance with the Adoption Allowance Regulations 1991, to a family after an adoption order has been made. Children in receipt of these payments alone, on a case closed to children's social care services, should not be returned in the census. 1.2.8 Formerly looked after children Formerly looked after children receiving follow-up support from children’s social care services should be recorded in the census. Local authorities have a proactive duty to offer support until the young person’s 21st birthday and these cases should be logged as ongoing episodes of need for that purpose. After that point the young person may engage with support from children’s social care until their 25th birthday and such an instance may be logged as a new episode of need. 1.3 Rationale The children in need census is the only national source of data on children referred to children’s social care services and those that are the subject of child protection plans (CPPs). These are a vulnerable group of children for whom both central and local government have a responsibility. Reviews, such as Professor Munro’s review of child protection have highlighted the importance of good quality performance information, including nationally collected data as part of helping to map children’s journeys, and understand the impact of services on their lives. In addition, the state is required to collect information on vulnerable children to fulfil its international obligations under the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child. 14 The children in need census is a child-level data collection. This means the DfE can track and analyse the journeys of individual children and explore how these