‘Immense drop-off’ in support contributing to care leaver deaths in England, review says

Profound isolation contributed to the deaths of more than 100 care leavers in England in a year, with a dramatic drop-off in support from social services at 18 leading to catastrophic consequences, a review has found.A government-commissioned report into the early deaths of young people who left care described the problem as a national tragedy and said many were left on their own “at the height of vulnerability” before they died.Josh MacAlister, the children’s minister, said: “care leavers have been left so isolated, so lonely, and that is the core of the problem. Both adult and children’s social care need to be humanised and need to focus on building those enduring, loving connections. This is a stain on society because all of us have failed.”The review, led by the social work leader Clare Chamberlain and the broadcaster Ashley John-Baptiste, looked at the deaths of 112 care leavers aged 18 to 24 in 2025.It found that the death rate among this group was three to four times higher than among the general population, and suicide rates among female care leavers were potentially 15 times higher.In total, 36% of the care leavers probably died by taking their own lives, including 24 women. One-fifth of the deaths were at age 18, which the review said highlighted the “immense drop-off in support services” when care leavers reach adulthood.John-Baptiste, who grew up in the care system, said the review was the “most emotional and triggering piece of work I’ve ever had to do”.He said: “I remember being in a meeting at 17 where my foster parents said: ‘If we’re not getting paid, we don’t want to look after him.’ Why do services change when children reach 18 and should they have to change?“I think there is certainly a case for a 0-25 service. If 112 deaths doesn’t compel us to try and reform things quickly, there’s a big problem in our society.”Among the deaths examined were care leavers in custody, mothers whose children had been removed, people undergoing gender transition, young asylum seekers, murder victims and people who died from medical conditions.One case was that of David (not his real name), who died in the summer of 2025 from a lack of insulin after he lost access to the children’s diabetes nurse who had been helping him keep track of his condition since he entered the care system at 14.The care leavers’ hub he socialised in was closed for refurbishment and his personal adviser was on leave. After his death, his body wasn’t found for two weeks. The review found that when he turned 19, many of the connections he had made “fell away and he was left on his own”.Young people leaving care are assigned a personal adviser to help them transition into independent adulthood up to the age of 21. The review found many of these advisers “hardly knew” the young people they were working with and were only required to see them once every two months. It said many were untrained, ill-equipped and “avoided the emotional side of the transition”.It called for a “major national review of the knowledge and skills” of the workforce tasked with monitoring care leavers, including better mental health expertise.The review found that young people were often attracted to the “lure of living alone and being free of constraints” but were unprepared for the significant drop in support, which “no amount of transition planning will compensate”.In response to the review, the government said it was investing £25m in connected housing options for care leavers, which would include supported housing and shared housing for groups of care-experienced people.MacAlister said this was part of the government’s strategy to make “loving, trusted relationships around care-experienced people the central focus of the care system”.Since December 2023, local authorities must report the deaths of care leavers through a serious incident notification system. MacAlister said “the same thing happening over and over again” compelled him to commission the review.He said it should be a call to action not just for the government and the social care sector. “We need more foster carers, we need mentors for care leavers, we need neighbours to show an interest in a young care-experienced person who might have got their first tenancy and to extend the hand of friendship,” he said.“This is about connections and relationships, and you can’t pay people to do that – it has to be grown organically and nurtured over time.”