One evening earlier this month a boy and a girl, each aged just 15, headed for a party in Newcastle, with some friends.

Later the same evening they were fighting for their lives.

The youngsters were rushed to Newcastle General Hospital only semi-conscious after taking drugs.

Although they are expected to recover the question remains - how did they come to be there and exposed to drugs in the first place, for they were in the care of social services. Jennifer Bradbury reports.

Tom Dervin, the city's director of social services, says short of locking up children in residential care, there is no way they can guarantee the children in their care are kept away from drugs.

"Children in residential care and drugs are no different to other children exposed to drugs, and I include alcohol in that.

"We have a zero tolerance policy towards drugs. If any of our children is found to have drugs we report it to the police and if we find alcohol we flush that down the sink.

"On top of that the children are not allowed to smoke in the residential homes.

"If we suspect that they have drugs we will conduct a search of their room and of their possessions.

"Like all children living in big cities they have access to drugs in their daily lives, just like everyone else. We have the same challenges as ordinary families have in trying to deflect the youngsters away from drugs."

In Newcastle there are five homes for children, offering 48 residential beds, but in total there are 440 youngsters being looked after by the local authority and Mr Dervin is the legal parent of all of them.

"Almost all of our children are looked after by foster carers, which is the biggest investment we make. We try to place as many children with families as possible."

Of the 440 children, 295 are fostered, 48 are in residential care and 27 are in other forms of care with the voluntary or private sector. This is because they require special care, perhaps because of disabilities or other special needs.

At any one time 26 youngsters are being placed for adoption, while 44 are being looked after in their own homes, with a care order. Six children are currently on remand, and just one child is in secure accommodation.

As their legal parents, social services are responsible for the youngsters' education and their wellbeing.

"It's the same responsibilities as any other parent," he said.

Youngsters in residential care, he explained, tended to be older children, with complex problems. For one reason or another these children are harder to place with families, because of problems or because they have been abused and so it's just not appropriate."

He said there are many reasons why youngsters end up being looked after by a local authority, sometimes in the short-term, sometimes for longer.

"They include where the family can't cope, difficult times at school, a family's inability to support their child, a breakdown in the relationship with a parent or a breakdown of the family.

"Some are in for a short time before being placed with a family, but other children have more complex needs. But it's not the child's fault."

In Newcastle social services looks after 19 children under the age of one; 39 aged between one and two; 46 between three and four; 96 between five and nine; 129 aged between 10 and 14; and 111 aged between 15 and 17.

The residential homes are staffed 24-hours a day.

"What we try and do," said Mr Dervin, "is try and get as close as we can to a child centred home as possible. The youngsters do normal things like go to school and do their homework."

But the question in many people's thought is can these vulnerable children just come and go as they please?

"They can walk out the door like other children can. You can't strike a child or restrain them physically, that's illegal.

"But they tell a member of staff where they are going.

"Absconding can be a problem, and it can be dealt with by locking the door. But these children are not criminals, they are not under secure orders, so their freedom can't be curtailed."

He continued: "We are trying to be a substitute family. These youngsters often have difficult lives which is not their fault. We don't want to get into a situation where they are labelled or branded in some way for being in care."

Mr Dervin said that a package was in place for youngsters leaving social services' care. But admitted it was far from an ideal service.

"We help them in finding accommodation and with a grant but there's a lot more that could be done if we had the resources." The children's home where the 15-year-old boy lives is no stranger to controversy.

Councillor Diane Packham, a member of the council's social services select committee, argues that drugs are a problem whether the child is in an ordinary family or under the control of social services.

"What happens in children's homes has to be measured against the general drug culture in our schools and cities. I know of similar things happening to children who are in so-called ordinary families.

"Anyone who has had to exercise parental responsibility realises that when children get to this age there's a balance to be struck.

"And unfortunately whether it is home care with the best of families or children who are looked after, it's a highly risky business.

"The children who are looked after by the local authority have to have the same freedoms and constraints that they would be receiving in a normal family."

She went on: "Unfortunately there have been deaths in the past of some children in care, and there will probably continue to be, unless we lock them up. But that is the case with all children.

"Drugs are prevalent in Newcastle and it is the vulnerable children, like those who are looked after by social services, who succumb to it."

But she added: "There are much much stricter controls on the children who are looked after in children's homes than would be imposed by the majority of parents.

"Older children regularly stay at friends' houses for the night. If that was the case for a child who was in local authority care the family with which they were hoping to stay with would have to be checked out as well. If anything the regime is much tighter."

Councillor Packham said that whatever the outcome, an investigation into what has happened would be launched by social services and a report would go to the social services' select committee.

This story first appeared in the Newcastle Evening Chronicle

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