Leaving Care Services

Section 01Service definition

Leaving care services support care-experienced young people aged 16-25 in their transition from care into adulthood. Support spans accommodation finding and stabilisation, education and employment pathways, life skills, mental health support and identity-based work.

Distinct from supported accommodation (housing-based) and from family support, leaving care is typically delivered through Personal Adviser models with structured Pathway Plans.

Section 02Typical client cohort

Care leavers aged 16-25, including young people with mental health needs, care-experienced parents, young people with learning disability or autism, and unaccompanied asylum-seeking care leavers.

Section 03Commissioning and procurement context

Local authority spot commissioning is dominant, with frameworks emerging around accommodation pathways. Regional collaboratives are extending into mental health and education support.

Section 04Core service requirements

Personal Adviser models, Pathway Plan completion and review, accommodation transitions, employment and education engagement, mental health pathway access, and Leaving Care Grant administration.

Section 05Regulatory and compliance framework

Children Act 1989 (Sections 23A-24D), Care Leavers (England) Regulations 2010, Children and Social Work Act 2017, and the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman framework on care leaver duties.

Section 06Key operational challenges

Maintaining contact with hard-to-engage care leavers, evidencing outcomes against shifting goals, and demonstrating co-production with care-experienced young people in service design.

Section 07How we approach this setting

We document the Personal Adviser caseload structure, the Pathway Plan workflow, the accommodation transition protocol and the named education and employment partnerships.

Section 08Typical starting points we handle

Providers entering leaving care commissioning, providers responding to mental health-aligned care leaver pathways, and supported accommodation providers expanding into Personal Adviser delivery.

Section 09Outcomes achieved

Care leaver framework entry, regional collaborative awards, and integrated mental health pathway commissioning.

Section 10Related case examples

The case studies below match this care setting and demonstrate the operational evidence base behind successful submissions.

Section 12Where this applies

Local authority children's services, NHS ICB mental health pathways for care leavers, and regional collaboratives.