Young care leavers dying early a ‘national tragedy’

The report calls for better ways to prepare young people for adulthood and an overhaul of the workforce supporting them.

The main source of support provided to young people who have left care comes through the framework of having a personal adviser (PA).

The review found that the support provided by PAs can “vary greatly from place to place” with a “huge variation” in quality of practice.

With minimum visiting requirements of once every two months, the authors say it is “not surprising” that some PAs they spoke to “hardly knew” the young person they were supporting.

The report is also critical of the housing and accommodation support given to young adults, saying it is often from a “profit-making arm of the service with no specific requirements for a therapeutic or social work discipline”, which needs to be redressed.

The government says it is driving forward a national rollout of connected housing options for those leaving care, starting with £25 million this year.

It says this will “significantly increase” young people’s chances of being offered a “home that provides them with community and connection rather than leaving them isolated in inappropriate accommodation”.

Children’s Minister Josh MacAlister said “enduring relationships” must become 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,” he added.

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