New Measures to Support Young Care Leavers in England Announced
The UK government has announced a series of initiatives aimed at improving the lives of care leavers under 25 in England. From 2025, free prescriptions, dental, and eye services will be provided to care leavers to ease their access to essential healthcare.
In addition to healthcare support, a new pilot scheme will trial paid NHS internships and a guaranteed NHS interview scheme specifically for care leavers. This guarantee allows care-leaver status to be declared on job applications and ensures eligible candidates receive an interview, mirroring protections similar to those in place for disabled applicants.
A three-year pilot is also set to improve access to mental health support tailored for children in care. Measures to strengthen safeguarding include alerting general practitioners when a young person is in care and introducing regulations to enable rapid information sharing across health services.
These reforms build on recommendations made by Josh MacAlister to transform the life chances of care leavers, emphasizing the importance of cross-government action. Research has shown that adults with care experience are at considerably higher risk of premature death—70% more likely to die early and with an increased likelihood of unnatural causes.
Looking ahead, the forthcoming children’s wellbeing and schools bill will require schools and local authorities to consider the specific challenges faced by care leavers. Local authorities will also be mandated to publish transition support plans and implement Staying Close arrangements that help young people with accommodation and support services as they move out of care.
An estimated 53,230 care leavers aged 17–21 and 44,430 aged 22–25 in England will be eligible for these new measures, though these figures may be underestimated.
