Support for care leavers deteriorating, watchdog finds

The report by the spending watchdog found that numbers of care leavers in employment, education and training have fallen since 2007/08.

In 2013/14, 41 per cent of 19-year-old care leavers were not in education, employment or training (NEET) – the highest proportion since 2001/02.

The report found that one in three of those aged 16 or over who left care did so before their 18th birthday.

It found that the quality and cost of services for care leavers, which are mainly provides through local authorities, vary widely.

And local authorities were found to have no information on 17 per cent of their 19- to 21-year-old care leavers even though they are often vulnerable.

It said it is too early to assess the impact of the Staying Put policy introduced by the Department for Education in 2014 to help care leavers stay in foster homes longer.

And although the government’s Care Leaver Strategy, which was launched by children's minister Edward Timpson in October 2013, was described as a positive step, the NAO said it "was not set up as an effective programme".

"We looked at whether the strategy has the characteristics we expect from successful programmes," the report states.

"There was no strong evidence of government working in an integrated way; limited implementation capability; no regular reporting of progress or outcomes; and no evidence of a sustained effort to continuously improve."

The report also found that there is no reliable information to monitor the lives of care leavers over time.

“Stronger central and local leadership is urgently required to get a grip on this problem,” said Amyas Morse, head of the NAO.

“Addressing the poor life outcomes of young people leaving care is a longstanding problem. The cost of their not moving into adulthood successfully is high.

“The government has made a commitment to improve the support for these young people, but the outcomes for many have been deteriorating over the past seven years.”

Labour MP Meg Hillier, chair of the public accounts committee, said it seems that some local authorities are "turning their back on young people leaving their care".

"Young people leaving care have to start living independently much earlier than their peers," she said. "They don't have the family or support networks that many in society benefit from when leaving home.

"Care leavers are in dire need of effective care and support, but this report finds care leavers who are not involved in their care leaving plans and who do not know what support they are entitled to."

Linda Briheim-Crookall, senior policy and service development manager at children's charity Coram, said: “Today’s report by the National Audit Office highlights that the safety net in place for care leavers, whereby local authorities are legally required to offer support in education and accommodation, is failing to catch countless young people as they journey into independent living.”