Article headline: Alone, at risk and afraid: urgent action needed to stop care leavers becoming homeless Image description: Silhouette of sad teenage girl looking out the window on a cold autumn day

Alone, at risk and afraid: urgent action needed to stop care leavers becoming homeless

Alone, at risk and afraid: urgent action needed to stop care leavers becoming homeless 3

Young people leaving care are still being left homeless and at risk, in unsuitable hostels surrounded by drugs, or too afraid to sleep at night despite a Scottish Government “promise” to ensure they are given a safe and loving home for as long as needed, The Ferret has heard. 

The failures are being highlighted by a new report – due to be released this week – which calls for urgent action to be taken to prevent homelessness for care leavers.

The “progress report”, which The Ferret was given exclusive sight of, marks the fifth anniversary of then-first minister Nicola Sturgeon’s flagship care review – known as ‘The Promise’. 

The Promise – aimed at improving the life chances of children in care homes, foster and other forms of state care – was launched in February 2020. It said all children in the care system must grow up “loved, safe and respected”. Its recommendations are due to be fully implemented by 2030.

But now the Promise oversight board, appointed to oversee the commitment, has made a sharp critique of the Scottish Government’s failure to address youth homelessness in its latest report, due to be published on 5 February.

What young people need is not just housing – it’s a home. 

David Anderson, The Promise Oversight Board

While commending progress in some other areas, the report will say that the oversight board’s direct requests for the government to address the number of children leaving care homeless have gone unheeded.  

“No reasonable explanation” has been given as to why action has not been taken, according to the report.

The chair of the review’s oversight board told The Ferret “the promise has already been broken to some young people” and said the commitments to young people in care could not be fulfilled unless their right to a home was upheld. 

In the last two years there has been a 14 per cent increase in care leavers under 25 being homeless or threatened with homelessness, according to the latest Scottish homeless data.

Pressure on housing is well established. In May 2024 the Scottish Government announced a national housing emergency, following similar declarations by councils in Glasgow and Edinburgh the year before.

Alone, at risk and afraid: urgent action needed to stop care leavers becoming homeless 4


The Scottish Government said tackling the housing emergency for everyone, including those in care, would “remain the Scottish Government’s focus for 2025”.

The row over the lack of homeless support dates back to October 2022 when the Scottish Government “paused” a 2019 agreement with local authorities which stated young people leaving care should have priority for housing support.

The Promise oversight board raised concerns in its second report in July 2023. Four months later the board wrote to both housing minister Paul McLennan and Marie Todd, minister for social care and mental wellbeing, calling for the government to reconsider.

Both letters made the link between homelessness and the raised risk of “tragic early death” for young care leavers. Yet despite follow-up meetings the policy has remained stubbornly on hold.

The oversight board’s latest report disputes the government’s claim that  “current action is sufficient” and reassurance that “local authorities are continuing to prioritise young care leavers,” pointing out that the homeless statistics show the situation is getting worse not better. 

“We strongly urge government to either reinstate or replace this provision,” the report adds. “The right to a home is fundamental to the promise being kept.”

The report also calls for more affordable homes, particularly those suited for larger families and for action to be taken on the number of children spending months or longer in temporary accommodation, which puts pressure on already stretched families. 

People need to think ‘what if it was my child?’

Emily Cutts, G20 Works

Speaking to The Ferret , the board’s chair, David Anderson, acknowledged work towards resolving the issue was ongoing. Last Thursday a Scottish Government official emailed him requesting a further meeting and claiming the government is “confident” it will be “about to find the resources to progress further the homelessness prevention pathway for care leavers”.

He also stressed that there were examples of good work, such as the National House Project in Fife, where young people are given support to transition to independent living.

But Anderson, who grew up in care, added: “On this issue though progress is not happening fast enough.

“What young people need is not just housing – it’s a home. We know that without safe and supportive housing young people are at risk of being exploited. We know of young people that are so scared in the places that they are staying they would prefer to leave even though they are homeless.

“When I was 16 I was in a flat barricading myself in because I didn’t feel safe. And what we are hearing is this is still happening. Scotland is not a big country –  we should be able to change this.” He said implementing the Promise by 2031 was “still achievable. But added: “We don’t have a minute left to waste.”

The Ferret spoke to young people and youth workers who said vulnerable young people leaving care – some under 18 being placed in homeless hostels with adults – where they being put at risk.

Emily Cutts, founder of Glasgow’s G20 Works – a youth project in a deprived housing estate in the north west of the city – said it was still “almost impossible to find suitable accommodation for vulnerable young people” due to long waiting lists.

Alone, at risk and afraid: urgent action needed to stop care leavers becoming homeless 5

“We have seen under 18s being placed in hostels with drug addicts and other vulnerable adults where they are in danger,” she added. “Most often these places have no safeguarding or support in place.”

One young person supported by the charity felt so unsafe they placed a bike in front of their door and left without being able to sleep. “There are some really great services but there are simply not enough of them,” added Cutts. “People need to think ‘what if it was my child?”

Other charities confirmed the issues were Scotland-wide. Charity Who Cares? Scotland saw 440 over 16s from 2021 to 2024 who raised housing issues, 37 per cent of whom were homeless.

“Something isn’t working,” said Kenny Murray, deputy director. “Housing is the foundation that young people can build their lives around. We now need to see a route map of how this is going to be addressed. Who is responsible? And how will they be held to account?”

Scottish Labour’s children and young person’s spokesperson Martin Whitfield said the “damning comments” made by the Promise oversight board “lay bare the SNP government’s shameful betrayal of care experienced young people”. He called on the government to “listen to these warnings and act now.”

A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said that tackling the housing emergency and supporting children in temporary accommodation “will remain the Scottish Government’s focus for 2025 and work to prevent homelessness, including for care leavers and young people, is part of this response”.

How colleges and universities are offering a route out

The Ferret heard from two young people who had struggled with homelessness on leaving care, and who found accessing education was key to getting support. 

Social workers were involved in Tony Anderson’s life for as long as he can remember. The 29-year-old from Dundee was one of seven children removed from his family’s care when he was 13. He has struggled with periods of homelessness since he left care at 16.

In recent years he’s used his experience to advocate for change as a member of the justice working group for the Promise Scotland and sat on the Rock Trust’s Aff the Street’s national youth steering group.

He knows how foundational housing is. His experience pre-dates the Promise commitments but he told The Ferret: “I think if I had the right support from the start things would have been very different.”

He was placed in a flat following the breakdown of an initial supported placement. But at just 16 and coping with a traumatic past he struggled to run a household without help. 

“My mental health was quite bad and I think not knowing what was going to happen was hard to cope with,” he said. “Now it’s much more common for young people to be able to go back to visit their children’s home for their dinner or whatever but then it wasn’t like that.

“I was just told I would be moving the next week and that was that. I felt like I had been thrown away – like I was trash. I struggled with rejection from my dad and I think that made it more difficult.” 

He was evicted from his flat due to rent arrears and on turning 18 found himself in his first homeless unit. “It was one of the toughest experiences of my life,” he explains. “There were a lot of drugs and with that came a lot of death.” Two people died while he was there.

After ending up in jail for six months he moved back in with his mother, who was now with a new partner. Tragically she died not long afterwards, leading to another spell of homelessness.

But after securing a place at Edinburgh College things turned around. The college provided accommodation and the stability allowed him to start a degree in politics and public policy at the University of Glasgow.

Currently sofa surfing after taking time out of his course due to mental ill-health, Tony is currently working for the civil service. “The reasons why care leavers need extra support needs to be better understood,” he says.

Some say not enough has changed since Anderson left care. Emma, a member of Who Cares? Scotland and its Empowering Voices network, was 15 when her care placement with another relative – known as kinship care – broke down. The Promise has just been launched.

She moved back to the family home. But things did not go well. “I was totally let down,” she says. “I was allowed by the system to be put in dangerous situations in an abusive household.” Lockdown restrictions came into place shortly afterwards, leaving her isolated in a situation where domestic abuse was commonplace.

Between the ages of 15 and 17 she was regularly “kicked out” by her parents, staying with friends or sofa surfing until she was allowed to return home. “I tried to tell my social worker what was going on,” she explains. “But she refused to validate what I was saying.”

Education was also Emma’s saviour. With the help of teachers who rallied around she managed to get a place at university where she is studying social work on a scholarship, her rent paid by the university for four years. “Now I’ve been able to restart and rebuild my life in a home that is safe,” she says.

“I was lucky. But so many people in care get lost in the system and it has such a detrimental effect on their lives. We need to have the right support and housing in place when we are making the transition from care. That needs to be a priority.”

Main image: max-kegfire/iStock

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