In November we mark Care Leavers’ Month – a time to celebrate the experiences, resilience, and achievements of care-experienced young people across the country. This year’s theme, “Rising as Me: Overcoming challenges, transforming, and finding your identity”, shines a light on the determination, strength and pride that care leavers embody every day.
As Children’s Commissioner, my mission is to ensure every child – including those leaving care – have the love, stability, and support they need to thrive. Care Leavers’ Month is a chance for us to amplify the voices of care experienced young people and push for greater ambition in how society supports them.
In my role as Commissioner, I am delighted to be a member of the Care Leavers’ Ministerial Board which brings together decision-makers from across government departments with a responsibility to these young people. I am deeply committed to championing the rights of care-experienced young people as they transition into adulthood – too many of whom tell me how much they fear that period of a ‘cliff edge’ in support.
My report just last month, The Children’s Plan: Vision for Care, set out the progress that has been made in recent years, including the introduction of a set of corporate parenting responsibilities for a range of government departments and other public bodies including Ofsted, the NHS and Youth Justice Board. This should ensure that Secretaries of State and relevant public bodies are actively considering how they can better support care experienced children and young people. But this must go further to include authorities with immigration functions so that children seeking asylum are given consistent support across all areas of government.
While positive steps have been made in improving outcomes for children who have experienced care, many care leavers continue to face barriers that make the transition to adulthood unnecessarily difficult. My Help at Hand team continues to hear from care leavers about persistent challenges in securing stable housing, including the need for priority banding for those placed out of area – an issue on which my office will continue to press the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Some care leavers have struggled to access their leaving care teams for advice and assistance with housing. While entitlement to full support often ends at 21, local authorities still have a duty to offer help and guidance up to the age of 25. This help is a vital lifeline – especially for those at university or classes as qualifying children.
Council tax support is another area of concern. Currently, not all local authorities have reciprocal arrangements for care leavers placed out of area before turning 18, this means some young people face unexpected council tax bills and court summons, simply because they moved between local authorities while in care. My office has called for a nationwide exemption from council tax for all care leavers, ensuring a fair and consistent approach regardless of where a young person lives.
As well as housing, financial stability remains a key concern. Local authorities have a duty to provide financial support to care leavers as part of their local offer, but this can vary from one area to another. The Setting Up Home Allowance (SUHA), previously known as the Leaving Care Grant, received a much-needed uplift in 2024, but the Higher Education Bursary (HEB), which supports care leavers at university, has not increased in line with rising living costs. This is leaving many care-experienced students struggling to cover basic expenses.
The system remains complex for care leavers with immigration needs. Unless immigration support is clearly included in a young person’s pathway plan or the local offer, many who were unaccompanied asylum-seeking children find themselves penalised when they renew their status or right to remain.
Finally, care leavers who are in prison continue to tell my office they receive little or no help from their leaving care teams until shortly before release. Some are also parents and can struggle to maintain contact with their children while in custody. Being in prison should not mean being forgotten, local authorities must continue to provide meaningful support to these young people throughout their sentence, not just at the point of their release.
As we mark Care Leavers’ Month, it’s important we remember that behind all the data and every policy decision is a young person with hopes, dreams, and ambitions. We must celebrate their strength, and remember our collective responsibility – across government, local authorities, and society as a whole – to make sure they are not entering adulthood alone.
My hope for awareness months such as this is that it shines a spotlight on the lives of care experienced young people – so that their lives and their stories become much more central to policy making during the rest of the year, not just in November.
Every care leaver deserves to feel supported, valued, and equipped to build a bright and secure future.
