Police calls to the Good Shepherd centre would have included assault, theft and property damage.

The Good Shepherd, in Bishopton, Renfrewshire, is under scrutiny after Neve Lafferty, 15, and Georgia Rowe, 14, walked out of the centre and jumped to their deaths from the nearby Erskine Bridge.

A number of agencies are now investigating the circumstances of the tragedy.

Standards at the troubled home, which maintains both a secure unit and a residential facility, are again being questioned after the figures were disclosed.

According to Strathclyde Police figures revealed by the Sunday Herald, officers were called to the home 920 times in the past 36 months. In 2007, there were 351 call-outs, or nearly seven a week.

The following year, police visited the centre on 348 occasions, while this year the figure stands at 221 so far.

Of these, 336 related to “missing person” incidents – mostly involving children absconding from the centre.

Of the 920 incidents, 159 resulted in either an arrest or a report being sent to the procurator fiscal or the children’s hearing panel.

While many of the calls are thought to have involved criminal activity, an official in Strathclyde Police said officers may also have visited the centre to deal with minor incidents.

The relationship between staff and the young people at the centre came under scrutiny

in 2008 after police investigated claims that service users were being mistreated.

Ashley Johnson, a former resident at the Good Shepherd, said at the time that she was mistreated on a weekly basis by staff.

She claimed to have spent lengthy periods in a punishment room that residents used to call the “zombie room” as they were “left to rot”.

However, it is understood staff have also been victims of abuse by young people staying at the centre. Unison, the trade union representing the care home workers, has dealt with cases that involve attacks against their members.

Despite the negative publicity surrounding the centre, police found no evidence of criminality following the 2008 complaint.

Meanwhile, new figures also reveal more than 6500 cases of young people absconding from the 206 care homes across Scotland.

According to the Care Commission, there were 6576 cases of children and young people recorded as missing in 2008. This involved 955 individual residents.

John Wilson, an SNP MSP for Central Scotland, said: “These figures clearly indicate that there are serious issues to do with care homes for vulnerable young people. Urgent action should be taken to review the type of provision offered.”

A spokeswoman for the Care Commission said: “The more troubled and chaotic a child’s life has been, the less likely they are to have developed the internal controls that we take for granted in other children and young people.

“It is not unusual for some children and young people, given their troubled life experiences, to challenge the accountability, structure, control and stability offered by a care home by failing to return from school or home visits on time, or through leaving the home without permission.”

A spokesman for the Good Shepherd Centre said: “The reason for the police visits could be for a variety of purposes. It could be because a young person has gone missing, or it could be the police following up on the return of a missing person.”