Young people leaving care are dying at a troubling rate - and one age stands out

The numbers are moving in the wrong direction. 

The number of young care leavers dying has risen by around a quarter. In 2025, 112 care leavers aged 18 to 24 died. And the government's own review warns that the true number may be higher because councils simply lose contact with some young people after they leave care.

Look beyond that headline figure, and the picture becomes even more troubling.

Care leavers are estimated to be dying at three to four times the rate of other young people their age. More than a third of the deaths examined were believed to be suicides. Drug and alcohol misuse, homelessness, loneliness and serious mental health problems feature repeatedly.

And one age stands out: 18.

More care leavers died at 18 than at any other age examined by the review.

This can be the moment the system around them changes dramatically.

Take Joash McCullough.

Joash was autistic and had ADHD. His parents had spent years trying to cope with increasingly complex behaviour and serious mental health crises. Eventually they made the agonising decision that he needed care they could no longer provide at home.

At 14, he was moved around 200 miles away to a children's home. He would later move again.

Then Joash turned 18 and entered the transition from children's services to the adult system. He died later that year on railway lines near to where he lived.

An inquest has yet to fully examine the circumstances of his death, so no conclusions should be drawn about what happened to Joash. But his story helps explain why this government's findings matter.

Read more from Nick Martin:
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The problem is that very little in this review will come as a surprise to ministers. Even the review itself accepts that.

Governments have known for years about the so-called "care cliff". They know there aren't enough foster carers. They know councils are spending huge sums placing children wherever they can find beds. They know the quality of children's homes and supported accommodation varies. And they know the transition between children's and adult mental health services can be brutally difficult.

So identifying the problems is arguably the easy bit.

Fixing them is much harder.

Better children's homes require money and skilled staff. More foster placements require a serious recruitment and retention effort, something the government says it is trying to do. Better mental health provision requires capacity on both sides of the 18th birthday.

The political question now is: what is government actually going to do differently?

The age of 18 is now accepted to be a perilous point for young people in care. They are most at risk. Acknowledging the "care cliff" is no longer enough. The challenge for ministers is working out how to stop young people from falling off it.

Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for free on 116 123 or visit samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.

(c) Sky News 2026: Young people leaving care are dying at a troubling rate - and one age stands out