Three moments that should make us stop and think

This week, two reports and one important apology have put a spotlight on children in care, young people leaving care, and adults who were harmed in childhood.

The subjects are difficult. They include death, suicide, self-harm and childhood sexual abuse. Some readers may want to pause before reading on or come back to this later. Please look after yourself and speak to someone you trust. Support is also available from Mind, Samaritans and the NHS.

Stop press: Lisa Cherry is hosting a community gathering for care experienced people, supported by the Care Leavers Association on 9th September. You can register here.)

Young people leaving care need better support

Ashley John-Baptiste, a broadcaster and care-experienced author, co-led the Department for Education review ‘You really are on your own’: a study of the early deaths of young people who were in care with Clare Chamberlain, an experienced social worker. That matters because the review brings together lived experience of care and professional knowledge of how the care system works.

The review looks at the deaths of young people aged 18 to 24 who had been in care. It is hard to read. It shows how sudden changes in support can leave young people isolated at a point when they may need help most.

The figures are stark. The review looked at 112 deaths of care leavers aged 18 to 24 in 2025. It found that care leavers in this age group were dying at around three to four times the rate of their peers in the general population. More deaths were recorded at age 18 than at any other age in the review.

Leaving care should not mean being left alone. Young people need steady relationships, safe places to live, and support that continues as they move into adulthood.

That means having someone who notices when things are going wrong, helps with housing and health, and stays involved when life becomes difficult.

Survivors of childhood abuse need care that lasts

A public apology and position statement from the Royal College of Psychiatrists on non-recent child sexual abuse looked at the long-term impact of child sexual abuse. The College said mental health services have not always given survivors the support they needed, and apologised to people who were harmed when they tried to get help.

This statement came from the Royal College of Psychiatrists, the professional body for psychiatrists. It was co-produced with adult survivors of non-recent child sexual abuse, which is important because survivors’ experiences helped shape what the College said needs to change.

The scale of this is not small. The Royal College of Psychiatrists says around one in five girls and one in ten boys in England and Wales are believed to have been affected by sexual abuse before the age of 18. Many survivors do not talk about what happened for years. On average, disclosure can take 16 to 24 years.

The apology matters because it recognises harm. Survivors who ask for help should be believed, listened to, and supported with care that understands trauma.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists said some survivors had experienced avoidable harm when they asked for help, including being misdiagnosed, not being believed, or being re-traumatised by the way services responded to them.

The statement calls for better training, better services and care that understands trauma. For survivors, this means support should not just treat symptoms. It should also understand what happened to them, how it still affects them, and what they need to feel safe.

Children’s rights in social care need stronger protection

The third report, Human Rights of Children in the Social Care System in England, comes from the Joint Committee on Human Rights. It says children in the social care system have rights: to be safe, to be listened to, and to get the care and support they need.

This report came from the Joint Committee on Human Rights, a parliamentary committee made up of members from the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Its role is to look at human rights issues in the UK and hold public bodies to account when rights are not being protected properly.

This is a large part of childhood in England. The report says around 400,000 children are in the social care system at any one time. Nearly 84,000 are looked after by local authorities.

It also shows where the system is not working well enough. Some families find support hard to get. Some children are placed in homes that are not right for them. Some children and young people come into contact with the criminal justice system when their needs have not been properly met. And some young people still lose support too quickly when they become adults.

The report says children’s rights should be stronger in law, so they are not treated as optional. Rights should shape everyday decisions about where children live, who supports them, and what happens when they need help.

It also points to practical changes. Children should be able to complain when something is wrong, without being passed from one place to another. Disabled children and their families should not face a postcode lottery. Kinship carers should get proper support so more children can stay safely within their wider family network.

The report also raises concerns about accommodation. Children should not be placed somewhere unsafe, unsuitable, or far away from the people and places that matter to them. A safe home is not an extra. It is part of what care should mean.

What the reports say should happen next

The Review says lessons should be used to prevent future deaths. It identifies five broad areas for change: the workforce, better support for young people in custody, supported accommodation for care leavers, health services for young people with medical conditions, and learning lessons after the death of a young person. The wider government response also includes £25 million to expand supported housing models and planned “Staying Close” support up to age 25 through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists says mental health services must change. It calls for improved training, guidelines, clinical services and care pathways so survivors of non-recent child sexual abuse receive trauma-informed, person-centred support. The College also says it will create a learning module for psychiatrists and work with others to support implementation of the statement’s recommendations.

The Committee recommends bringing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child into domestic law in England. It also calls for clearer rights and responsibilities for disabled children’s social care, a single duty to assess disabled children’s needs, national eligibility criteria, better support for kinship carers, stronger complaints routes, action on unsafe or unregulated accommodation, and better support for care leavers as they move into adulthood.

What this should mean

Taken together, these reports and this apology point to the same simple truth: children and young people need support that stays with them. Not support that disappears at 18. Not services that cause more harm when people ask for help. Not systems that only respond when something has already gone badly wrong.

Good care should be steady, kind and human. It should notice risk early, listen properly, and stay alongside people when life is hardest.

Behind every statistic is a person. That is why this attention matters, and why it must lead to real, lasting change.