In their short lives they have suffered violence, fear and neglect.

Some have been subjected to prostitution, others have become slaves to hard drugs.

Most have no notion of parental love. Some have been raped.

These are not children brought up in some far-flung Third World republic. They are children from Brighton and Hove.

When they escape their shattered home lives these damaged youngsters, some as young as ten, must be cared for by the city.

The total bill for the 450 children in care in the city - whether in foster homes, care homes or secure units - is more than £12 million a year.

At this time of unprecedented annual council tax rises, managers are concerned their budgets could come under scrutiny.

But they say without this safety net of social support the youngsters face continuing abuse.

The aim of such treatment is to end the cycle of despair.

The details of individual cases must be kept vague in order to prevent the youngsters from being identified. All of the names in this article have been changed for the protection of the individuals.

But Brighton and Hove City Council has released some shocking case studies as an example of the work the service carries out.

One 14-year-old girl was granting sexual favours to older men in exchange for hard drugs.

Another blew the whistle on the sexual abuse of other children within her family A third child was taken into a secure unit because of her challenging behaviour, which included talking to care staff in a "provocative" way - at the age of ten.

These are the most extreme cases and placements with foster carers inevitably fell apart.

But even the least troubled have experienced suffering and misery utterly alien to the happy majority of British families.

At present 22 children are being looked after in children's homes.

Each of these placements costs between £1,500 and £5,700 a week - an annual bill of £2.1 million.

A further 170 children are with foster carers employed directly by the council.

The families are paid about £350 a week to provide a home and parenting from a budget of £4 million a year.

More than 70 children are provided with foster care through private agencies.

This can cost anything between £600 and £850 a week, with a yearly bill of £2.8 million for the taxpayer.

Social workers always try to place children with foster families.

The definition of success in the service is an amicable return to the birth parents and a life approaching normality.

A further 50 children are given day care to give their full-time carers a break.

Alongside these costs, £1.2 million is spent looking after disabled children. The bill is shared with heath authorities.

Another £2 million is spent every year on staffing and administering the social care service.

Pat Hawkes, lead councillor for children, families and schools, said: "It is heartbreaking these children become so damaged. We have to help them.

"There is an image that all children skip happily to school every day but some have utterly miserable lives.

"I would rather spend the money on treatment now than allow them to run wild.

"They could end up in prison. They could damage themselves or someone else.

"With care and support I believe they can go on to lead useful lives."

Colin Tucker, assistant director of children, families and schools, said: "These are children who through no fault of their own cannot live at home and some require intensive and expensive care."

The council has also invested in Sure Start schemes to help young children.

It plans to open children's centres across the city to offer support to parents.

It is hoped these will help prevent children needing more expensive care and spot the most extreme cases early on.

The fate of eight-year-old Victoria Climbie, who was murdered by her great-aunt in London despite social workers being warned she was a victim of abuse, is never far from their minds.

Mr Tucker said: "In many of the situations we are facing we have little choice but to hold the children in specialist placements, including secure accommodation.

"The priority is to safeguard the children. Secondly, we look at the best value for money but we have to ensure the safety of the children and that is why in extreme cases it costs so much.

"With some children we are talking about staffing levels of three to one, 24 hours a day for seven days a week under constant supervision.

"If a child is in an extremely vulnerable situation, like hiding on live railway lines, for example, and the police want to secure them somewhere, I can't just say we don't have any money."

The children in care are often intelligent and are desperate for stability and to have adults around them they can trust.

Mr Tucker said: "They are interested in the same range of teenage interests as any other children, like pop music and fashion.

"But due to their experiences they are often impressionable and more vulnerable to areas of teenage culture that are less desirable, such as drugs.

"They have experienced things we would never choose a child to go through.

"They don't concentrate very well, they have very low self-esteem and they don't have very high aspirations for the future.

"These children will always face a stiffer challenge than other children but the evidence is they can change their behaviour and some of the looked-after children do go on to university or get good jobs, for example.

"Of course we think they can change and grow up to have happy lives."

Just a few years ago the cost of social care for the most extreme cases was spiralling out of control.

Children were being placed in units far from their homes, families and friends.

The amounts paid and the level of care provided proved almost impossible to monitor.

Agencies were keen to drive up profits in a tough market and some would hire young, inexperienced staff to cut costs.

The amount paid had reached as much as £8,500 per child per week but in all cases this has been almost halved with the most expensive now costing £5,000 per child in secure care.

Each year it costs £180,000 for places in secure accommodation, which includes education and care provision.

Andy Pallas was drafted in to Brighton and Hove to manage agency placements to drive down costs and demand the best levels of care.

He said: "There is a lot of money that we are spending and we know it is taxpayers' money.

"But we are doing all we can to reduce the cost while maintaining standards. We are responsible about how we manage it.

"Eight years ago, we had children all over the country, including five in Somerset, and it's more difficult to know what is happening to them when they are so far away.

"We now have better contracts and better value for money."

The council is desperate to recruit more foster carers living in Brighton and Hove.

This will help further reduce the cost of looking after children but also means youngsters can stay at school, with their friends and close to their families.

The vast majority of children are not violent or involved with drugs and prostitution. They just need a stable and loving home.

To find out more about fostering, contact the council on 01273 295444.