Every child in care deserves better

Voices from Care Cymru (VFCC), the national organisation representing care-experienced children and young people in Wales, has called for immediate action following the publication of deeply concerning findings showing that young people leaving care are significantly more likely to die young than other young people.

An independent review published today by the Department for Education found that 112 care leavers aged between 18 and 24 died in England during 2025, with the estimated mortality rate among care leavers around three to four times higher than for other young people of the same age.

Twenty-two of those who died were just 18 years old.

Although the review relates to England, VFCC says the findings must act as an urgent warning for Wales and the wider UK.

Deborah Jones, Chief Executive of Voices from Care Cymru, said:

“These findings are devastating, but sadly the underlying message is not new.

“Care-experienced young people have been telling us for years what happens when support disappears too quickly and when the system expects them to navigate adulthood without the relationships, security and safety net that most young people naturally rely upon.

“Behind every statistic is a young person — somebody with ambitions, relationships, hopes and a future that should have stretched far beyond their early twenties.

“This is simply not acceptable.”

“When care-experienced young people are dying significantly younger than their peers, we cannot treat these as a series of individual tragedies and simply move on.

“This represents a deeply concerning systemic failure in the way young people are supported before, during and after leaving care.”

“There must now be immediate action. We cannot wait for another report, another review or another generation of young people to experience the same failures.”

For more than three decades, care-experienced children and young people have told VFCC about the challenges of moving from care into adulthood.

Too often, young people describe leaving care as a cliff edge, where relationships, practical support, financial security and the safety net around them can reduce dramatically at precisely the point when they need those things most.

The review identifies themes including loneliness and isolation, preparation for adulthood, the loss or changing nature of trusted relationships and difficulties navigating support after leaving care.

VFCC believes these findings reinforce the urgent need to rethink society's expectations of young people leaving care.

For most young people, turning 18 does not mean that their parents suddenly withdraw their emotional, practical or financial support.

Families remain alongside young people as they find somewhere to live, begin education or employment, manage money, build relationships, make mistakes and sometimes need somewhere safe to return to.

Care-experienced young people deserve no less.

Young Person’s Voice

Brendan Roberts, a Young Ambassador for Voices from Care Cymru, said:

“When you leave care, people expect you to suddenly know how to be an adult and cope with everything on your own. But turning 18 doesn’t mean you suddenly stop needing people around you.

“What young people need is someone who stays, someone they trust and someone they know they can call when things go wrong. We shouldn’t have to reach crisis point before somebody listens.

“Young people leaving care need to know that they matter and that they haven’t just been forgotten by the system.”

Deborah Jones added:

“That is why the voices of care-experienced young people must be at the centre of the response to these findings. They have been telling us what needs to change for years. The responsibility now sits with those of us with the power to act.”

Deborah Jones continued:

“The question Wales must now ask itself is a difficult but necessary one: could we confidently say that this could not happen here?

“If we cannot answer that question with certainty, then we have a responsibility to find out — urgently.

“We need to properly understand what happens to care-experienced young people as they move into adulthood, including their long-term health, wellbeing and life outcomes.

“Leaving care must never mean being left alone.”

VFCC is calling for urgent action in Wales

Voices from Care Cymru is calling for:

• urgent examination of the outcomes and premature deaths of care-experienced young people in Wales;
• every young person leaving care to have access to a consistent and trusted adult relationship;
• an end to arbitrary cliff edges in support linked to age;
• stronger and sustained support beyond the age of 18 and into early adulthood;
• safe, secure and appropriate housing to be in place before a young person leaves care;
• emotional wellbeing, relationships and belonging to be recognised as being as important as practical independence;
• corporate parenting responsibilities to translate into meaningful action across housing, health, education, employment and public services; and
• care-experienced children and young people themselves to be at the centre of determining what needs to change.

Deborah Jones added:

“Today's findings demand more than sympathy and more than reflection. They demand action.

“Corporate parenting cannot simply be a principle written into policies and strategies. It must mean that every part of the public sector asks the question any good parent would ask: ‘Is this good enough for my child?’

“A good parent does not disappear when their child turns 18. They do not measure support against an eligibility threshold and they do not expect a young person to cope alone simply because they have reached a particular birthday.

“If our systems are contributing to poorer health, greater vulnerability, homelessness, isolation and significantly earlier deaths among care-experienced young people, then those systems must change.

“This is not simply about individual services failing. This is systemic failure, and it must be addressed.”

“Our ambition for Wales must be much greater than helping care-experienced young people survive leaving care. We should expect them to be safe, supported, loved and able to thrive.”

VFCC has consistently called for fundamental reform of the care system in Wales, led and shaped by the voices and experiences of care-experienced children and young people.

Deborah Jones concluded:

“Young people should not have to become extraordinarily resilient simply to survive the systems that were created to protect them.

“We owe care-experienced young people more than words of concern.

“We owe them immediate action, accountability and change.”

ENDS