Meeting the mental health and wellbeing needs of care leavers

Leaving care can be a challenging time for many young people.  

Care leavers are identified to be at a higher risk of experiencing mental health issues and report lower wellbeing compared to their non care-experienced peers. 

As they transition into independent living, care leavers can face a number of challenges, often with little emotional, financial and personal support. A third of care leavers report that they don’t know how to access mental health support, and many say they felt ‘alone’ or ‘isolated’ when they left care. 

Practitioners in health and social care play a vital role in supporting mental health and emotional wellbeing needs. To provide effective support, it’s important we listen to the voices of care leavers, alongside research findings and examples of good practice. 

A new podcast series explores support for care leavers’ mental health and wellbeing. Hearing from young people with care experience, researchers and practitioners, the podcasts examine the challenges and barriers when trying to access mental health support and share key recommendations from research and lived experience. 

What is the impact of trauma on care leavers?   

Children in care and care leavers are more likely to have experienced early adversity including abuse, neglect or other forms of trauma. Experiencing trauma at a young age can have a profound impact on mental health and wellbeing, and can contribute to the development of depression and anxiety.  

Embedding trauma-informed practice is necessary to improve mental health outcomes. A Research in Practice podcast explores the evidence base around adverse childhood experiences, considering the implications for public health and children’s social care.  

Dr. Danny Taggart has also described the effect that trauma has on children and young people and what practitioners should bear in mind when working with them. A briefing on supporting children who have experienced developmental trauma also brings together knowledge and resources on working in a trauma-informed way with children and their parents or carers.  

Trauma-informed practice is key to understanding and responding to previous traumatic experiences and how these can impact the lives of care leavers. Using this approach, practitioners can help to create a safe, nurturing and collaborative environment for the people they support.

Accessing support 

Research conducted by Barnardo’s found that 46% of care leavers had been identified as having a mental health concern. Of those, 65% were receiving no service and just 9% were on a waiting list for NHS support.  

Many care leavers experience the 'care cliff’ at 18, leading to a decrease in the access they have to services, including Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). However, some local authorities have extended this support to 25 for care leavers, and the Children’s Commissioner has called for this to be implemented across England. 

It’s not just care leavers who are affected by inequalities in support. Recent evidence has shown that children and young people with social work involvement or living in poverty are more likely to be refused mental health services following referral. Children on child protection plans are twice as likely to be turned away by CAMHS, while children with other social work involvement are over three times as likely to be denied help compared to their peers.  

An integrated approach can help to reduce inequalities in access and support and improve outcomes, as detailed in a Research in Practice briefing, developed in partnership with NHS Clinical Commissioners. Aimed at those involved in commissioning mental health services and support, the briefing explores the need for agencies to work together to improve the mental wellbeing of children and young people.  

To provide appropriate support, it’s important to listen to the needs of care leavers. An open access briefing provides an overview of the key messages from the Bright Spots Programme, exploring what children in care and care leavers say is important to their wellbeing. 

Government response  

In 2023, a report found that only 12% of young people thought that the government takes their mental health seriously. However, the Labour Government has made a number of commitments to address the ongoing ‘mental health epidemic’ that is particularly affecting children and young people.  

During the State Opening of Parliament, the King announced the Children’s Wellbeing Bill. The bill aims to ‘put children and their wellbeing at the centre of the education and children’s social care systems, and make changes to ensure children are safe, healthy, happy and treated fairly’.   

A new Mental Health Bill was also announced, designed to ‘modernise the Mental Health Act so it is fit for the twenty first century’. The objective of this bill is to ‘reduce the waiting times, focus on prevention and improve mental health provision for young people’. However, no specific plans for mental health support for care leavers were outlined in either of these announcements.  

To improve mental health support for care leavers, increased support and access are vital. Whilst we await the government’s next steps in this area, it’s important we listen to and amplify the voices of care leavers to provide and improve the support they need.