More than 100 young people who left the care of social services in England have died in the past year, according to government data that somehow manages to be both shocking and entirely predictable. In the year to April 2026, there were 106 reported deaths of care leavers - up from 91 the previous year - with the majority aged 16 to 21. Though a requirement to report such deaths was introduced in 2023, ministers concede the actual number is probably higher, because nothing says 'we care about vulnerable youth' like incomplete data.
Labour launched an urgent review in April to figure out where support systems may have failed, calling it a 'horrifying fact' that a disproportionate number of former care kids die young, often without appropriate support. For context, 81,770 children were under local authority care in 2025. The latest deaths include transgender individuals, young women who had their babies removed by social services, and unaccompanied asylum seekers. Many deaths weren't from natural causes: Samare Gerezgihir, 23, from Eritrea, and Issa Ali Musa Abdulrahman Barakat, 18, from Chad, were stabbed to death in 2024; Ahmad Mamdouh Al Ibrahim, 16, an unaccompanied child asylum seeker, was murdered in 2025. Two-thirds of kids in the care system have been abused or neglected by primary carers, and until December 2023, local authorities weren't even required to report their deaths. They now must use the serious incident notification system - a classic case of 'better late than never, but still pretty late.'
Benny Hunter, co-founder of Da’aro Youth Project, which works with unaccompanied asylum seekers from eastern Africa, called the figures 'unspeakably tragic.' He noted that after his group's intervention in 2021, the government started asking local authorities to report deaths - but there's still no process for learning lessons when a care leaver dies while receiving statutory support. 'When a care leaver dies, the important questions about the circumstances of their life and the support they were receiving do not get asked,' he said, urging statutory reviews and properly informed inquests for every death.
Consider Evie, a care leaver who died at 19 from an overdose at her grandparents' home in June 2024. A review found a 'cliff edge' in services after she turned 18: she disclosed suicidal thoughts, but adult safeguarding support declined. Her housing provider was unaware of her needs. Professionals called her a 'wonderful, charismatic girl'; her family described her as 'best sister, best auntie, best friend, best daughter and best person.' But the system that was supposed to catch her when she fell apparently missed the memo.