Somerset Safeguarding Children Board and Safeguarding Adult Board have published their review into Deaths of Vulnerable Young Adults. It concludes with questions about whether we need to develop systems in the UK that would enable the corporate parent to continue to provide support beyond the scope of the leaving care service?

Extract:

“In recent years there has been a growing understanding of the vulnerability for adolescents as a result of early neglect and/or abuse, and the subsequent links with high risk activities, such as alcohol and substance misuse and some criminal activities. Such early life experiences are a feature of the lives of many children who are Looked After by the local authority or of adults who were previously Looked After.

The recognition of the impact of adolescent vulnerability has been reflected in the increasing numbers of Serious Case Reviews being undertaken on older children, with the association being made between such early childhood experiences and teenage suicides and accidental deaths.

Important reading.

Full report: Somerset Learning Review into Deaths of Vulnerable Young Adults, June 2014