Support for Care-Experienced Young People Facing Homelessness: What Works?

🕒 5 min read

Care-experienced young people are far more likely to face homelessness than their peers, with one-third experiencing homelessness in the first two years after leaving care. This is partly down to factors such as inadequate transition to independence, high costs and a lack of housing support. Without the safety net of family support, many leave care with limited financial security, unstable housing, and few trusted relationships to rely on. Recent reports show that too many young people are being left without the guidance and resources they need to build stable futures, leading to increased risk of homelessness. 

In this blog, we explore why care leavers face a higher risk of homelessness, highlight the services working to change this, and ask: what really works to support young people transitioning out of care?

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Why Care Leavers Are at Higher Risk of Homelessness

Young people leaving care often face multiple barriers to finding suitable accommodation. Housing options can be restricted by age, tenancy rules, or local authority placement policies, while affordability is another major challenge. Transition planning may be inadequate, and financial or practical support is often limited. These factors combine to increase the risk of homelessness among care-experienced young people.  

The scale of the problem was highlighted in data released by the Government last year. In 2023–24, more than 4,300 care leavers aged 18–20 were assessed as homeless. Care-experienced young people are disproportionately affected: the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care found that 26% of the homeless population have care experience, even though care leavers make up a much smaller proportion of all young people.  

And this is only getting worse. National care charity Become has analysed the Government data and found that the number of care leavers facing homelessness has increased by 54% in the last five years. There was a particularly steep rise over the past two years, with 910 extra care leavers assessed as homeless in 2023-24 compared to 2021-22 – a 27% increase. 

Katharine Sacks-Jones, former CEO of Become, outlined the challenges that people leaving care face: 

“The stark reality of more care leavers becoming homeless is that society is failing these young people. Each year, thousands of children move out of their foster or children’s homes at the age of 18, sometimes younger, and are forced to become independent overnight. Many young people are sofa surfing, living in hostels or unsuitable accommodation where they don’t feel safe, struggling to stay afloat with little support.” 

As Become put it: “these figures are just the tip of the iceberg” – many young people may be left out of official figures because of sofa surfing or other types of hidden homelessness. Even more are struggling to juggle their education, work and the cost of living, all the while lacking a suitable place to call home. 

Care leavers may lack family or informal support networks, leaving them without a safety net during difficult times. In addition, a large proportion end up being placed ‘out of area’ by their local authority due to a lack of suitable local accommodation, sometimes being moved many miles away from any support network they may have. This can be traumatic for the young person involved and can be damaging to their mental health and lead to feelings of isolation.

Support for Care Leavers Experiencing Homelessness

So what existing support is there for care leavers? Local authorities across the UK have a legal duty to provide housing and support for those leaving care, but in reality, the provision can be a patchwork. Local authorities must ensure care leavers aged 18-25 have access to advice, support, and a ‘pathway plan’ to prevent homelessness. This is coordinated by a personal adviser (PA), who keeps in touch with the care leaver upon transition. The PA’s role is to provide help with finances, health, life skills, education or employment goals, as well as accommodation support – which should be tailored to each young person’s needs. 

For care leavers who have made a homeless application, the council must help them to complete a personal housing plan, which sets out the steps that the council and the young person must take to access suitable housing. Care leavers can also access support via local services that can give independent advice, challenge decisions, link them with other services, and help them to understand their rights. 

There are also charities that provide support to care leavers, including: 

• Centrepoint: provides emergency, short- and longer-term accommodation for 16–25-year-olds, including specialist projects for care leavers, along with floating support services to help them sustain tenancies. 
• Beam works with care leavers in London to remove barriers to work and housing. This includes case worker support, financial planning, training and tenancy advice which helps care leavers to move into stable accommodation and employment. 
• St Basils: supports young people aged 16-25, including care leavers, who are homeless or at risk of homelessness in the West Midlands. They have developed a support framework for local authorities to improve housing support for young care leavers across England.
• Young Futures: offers tailored support programmes for young care leavers (16-25), with a particular emphasis on mental health support and building social and emotional capabilities to increase resilience.

Why Tailored Support Matters: Charlie’s Experience

Real change happens when care-experienced young people receive housing and support that recognise their individual needs. Charlie’s story shows the difference this can make. 

Charlie (not his real name) grew up in the care system from the age of nine. He first came out as trans at age eleven to a teacher and then again at age 17 while living in a care home. After experiencing homophobic abuse from his neighbours, Charlie began sofa surfing and sleeping on buses to stay safe. 

Through akt’s Trans Pathway project in Manchester, Charlie received specialist support designed for young trans people experiencing homelessness. akt worked alongside Charlie’s care worker and building staff to make his accommodation safer, and helped him look for safer long-term accommodation. They also supported him moving to a GP who understood trans healthcare. 

“My house was a homophobic nightmare, so [I was directed] to akt who have helped me out pretty much since then” Charlie said. 

Charlie says that working with the Trans Pathway project was the first time the abuse was taken seriously. He has now moved into a new flat, and is excited to move on with his life, transition and finding a job. 

Barriers to Effective Support

Even though there are various support systems available to care leavers, they can still face major barriers to suitable housing and longer-term support. Without the support networks that many of their peers have, care leavers are particularly vulnerable to housing instability. 

Specific services for care leavers can vary widely between local authorities, with some areas providing dedicated housing for those leaving care and others relying on local homelessness services instead. It’s the complexity of the system itself which is one of the biggest challenges for people trying to navigate it. Many care leavers find it hard to advocate for themselves when accessing housing, benefits or education, particularly if they’ve had previous negative experiences with local statutory services. For some, this can lead to a cycle of temporary accommodation and repeat homelessness. 

Another barrier is the shortage of trauma-informed services. Many care-experienced young people may have experienced instability, abuse or neglect, and these experiences can continue to affect them in their adult lives. Without services that recognise and respond to this trauma, housing support alone is rarely enough to create lasting stability. 

Mental health also has a big impact. Research by Centrepoint found that care leavers are twice as likely to report mental health issues compared to their peers. Yet many fall through gaps in provision, particularly when transitioning out of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). 

What Needs to Change

Despite some recent progress by the Government, care-experienced young people still face major barriers when it comes to housing and long-term support. Services vary widely between local authorities, and too many young people continue to fall through the gaps as they transition to independence. 

Due to a change in law by the Labour Government in 2025, care leavers can no longer be deemed “intentionally homeless”, meaning they can’t be refused housing support on the grounds that their homelessness was judged to be their own fault (e.g. after leaving care voluntarily to attend university). This was confirmed by recent guidance from the British Association of Social Workers (BASW), but many say the bill still needs to go further and provide more support for care leavers, including extending ‘priority need’ up to the age of 25. 

Katharine Sacks-Jones explained why this extension is so important: 

“Currently, care leavers aged 18–20 are automatically assessed as being in ‘priority need’, which means local authorities are required to provide them with accommodation. We think the bill should extend this to care leavers up to the age of 25, giving them a much-needed safety net.” 

Extending this protection would go some way in acknowledging the reality that leaving care is a gradual transition that requires time, trust and stability. 

Beyond reforming the law, there’s a clear need for a more consistent, compassionate approach across the UK. To make real change, we need to: 

• Ensure consistent support across all local authorities 
• Expand safe and secure housing options for care leavers 
• Provide tailored, trauma-informed services that go beyond just accommodation 
• Involve care-experienced young people in shaping policy and service provision 

As Katharine Sacks-Jones put it: 

“It’s time to be ambitious and deliver the changes care-experienced young people need.”