The Government is investing £25m in a housing programme to provide support and connection for care leavers.
Children's minister Josh MacAlister said: ‘We owe it to these young people, and to every care experienced person, to change care so that we make enduring relationships the central obsession of the care system. Care must build and not break the relationships that young people need, and this must be the new north star.'
In 2025, 112 deaths of care leavers aged 18 to 24 were notified to the Department for Education. That is an estimated 130 per 100,000, around three to four times the rate for others the same age.
Through the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act, more public bodies will become corporate parents, meaning the NHS, jobcentres, prisons, and probation must weigh what care leavers need when they design services.
New duties from September 30 require councils to publish how they will support care leavers into independent living, and from that date a care leaver can no longer be found intentionally homeless.
Lee Peart is editor of Hemming Group’s Healthcare Management magazine.
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