Neve Lafferty, 15, and Georgia Rowe, 14, jumped more than 100ft from the Erskine Bridge, near Glasgow, into the River Clyde last Sunday, hours after spending a “happy” weekend with relatives.
They were pupils at the nearby Good Shepherd Centre in Bishopton, Renfrewshire, and had apparently sneaked out of the centre shortly before 9pm.
The Care Commission confirmed that the centre reported 232 cases of young people absconding to police in one 12-month period.
The Commission said that many of the incidents were repeat cases involving the same girls.
The figures were for January 1, 2008, to December 31, 2008 – the most recent figures available.
The two girls who died were among nine live-in residents at the open unit, which also has 21 day-girls who live in foster or care homes.
Pupils there are not supervised around the clock but any outing requires authorisation.
The centre is an independent unit owned and managed by its voluntary board of managers.
It cares for young girls referred by local authority educational and psychological services, social work departments and children’s hearings.
It is affiliated to the CORA Foundation, a non-profit-making company owned by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Scotland.
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