Death of a Care Leaver Process for North Yorkshire and City of York
Introduction
As outlined within Working Together and the Children Act (2024) as amended by the Children and Social Work Act (2017) local authorities have a duty to notify incidents to the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel where a local authority in England knows or suspects that a child has been abused or neglected and
(a) the child dies or is seriously harmed in the local authority’s area
(b) while normally resident in the local authority’s area, the child dies or is seriously harmed outside England
This includes children who are in the care of the local authority and care leavers up to and including the age of 17 years, regardless of abuse or neglect being present.
From December 2023, revisions to Working Together have meant that local authorities should now also notify the Secretary of State for Education and Ofsted of the death of a care leaver aged up to and including the age of 24, where they are aware of their care leaver status and regardless of abuse or neglect being present.
Definitions
Child
A ‘child’ is anyone aged under 18.
Looked after child
A child is looked after by a local authority if he or she falls into one of the following:
• is provided with accommodation for a continuous period of more than 24 hours
• is subject to a care order
• is subject to a placement order
Care leaver
A care leaver is anyone aged up to their 25th birthday who meets both of the following criteria:
• is no longer looked-after
• has been looked after for at least 13 weeks, which began after they reached the age of 14 and ended after they reached the age of 16.
Care leavers are entitled to support from their Personal Adviser up to their 25th birthday. Local authorities are required to keep in touch with all care leavers up to the point they reach age 21; and to make their best efforts to contact all care leavers aged 21 to 24 annually to remind them that they remain eligible for support.
If a young person chooses not to take up support between 21 and 24 years of age, we understand that the local authority might not be aware of a care leaver’s whereabouts or circumstances (and therefore their death). This is why the requirement for a notification is not mandatory.
If you become aware of the death of a Care Leaver, how to report this?
North Yorkshire and the City of York local authority areas have agreed that any notification of a child or young person who was a Care Leaver[1] (up to the age of 24) at the time of their death will be reported via CDOP.
All agencies/practitioners who work in either local authority areas and are or become aware of the death of a care leaver up to the age of 24, then you are responsible for completing the Child Death Form (or submit the Child Death Notification Form [Word version] by email to cdop@northyorks.gov.uk)..
On receipt of this form, the Child Death Review Officer will send out an email to the respective local authorities to notify them that the death of a care leaver has been reported.
Following notification, each local authority area is responsible for notifying relevant government departments, as outlined in Working Together and instigating any further reviews.
Out of Area Children/Young People
Where CDOP have been notified of a care leaver who has been placed by another local authority area CDOP will notify that local authority of their death, as the placing authority should be responsible for reporting of this.
Notifying the Secretary of State and Ofsted
The local authority, on behalf of the safeguarding partners, should notify the Secretary of State for Education and Ofsted of the death of a care leaver up to and including the age of 24 within five working days of becoming aware that this has occurred. This notification should be done via the Child Safeguarding Online Notification System (or submit the Child Death Notification Form [Word version] by email to cdop@northyorks.gov.uk).
Within the City of York, the Leaving Care Manager is responsible for pulling together relevant information in order for the Director of Safeguarding to submit a notification on behalf of safeguarding partners.
When a care leaver is aged:
- Under 18 years old, notifications should be made by selecting the death of ‘Looked after child / Care leaver child (under 18 years old)’. Please continue to select ‘abuse’ and/or ‘neglect’ or ‘no abuse or neglect’. There will be an option on the ‘child detail’ page to identify the child as a care leaver.
- 18 years old up to their 25th birthday, notifications should be made by selecting death of Care Leaver 18 years old up to 25th birthday’.
The information requested for the death of a care leaver is less than for a child serious incident notification.
Review and Learning
The Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel will receive a copy of the notification, but will not review this as their remit is children’s serious incidents up to and including children aged 17. Ofsted will also be notified of the death of a care leaver through the notification system.
Rapid Review or Local Safeguarding Practice Review
The death of a care leaver does not require a rapid review or local child safeguarding practice review. However, safeguarding partners must consider whether the criteria for a serious incident have been met and respond accordingly, in the event that the deceased care leaver was under the age of 18. If local partners think that learning can be gained from the death of a looked-after child or care leaver in circumstances where those criteria do not apply, they may wish to undertake a local child safeguarding practice review.
It is the responsibility of each local authority area to decide.
For example, for North Yorkshire and the City of York, discussions may be held with:
- The three statutory safeguarding partners.
- Children and Adult Services
- Safeguarding Practice Review Subgroup (North Yorkshire only)
- Case Review Subgroup (City of York).
Further Support/Guidance
For further support or guidance, please go to:
- Chapter 5, Working together to safeguard children
- Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel guidance for safeguarding partners
- Children Act 1989: transition to adulthood for care leavers
[1] Care leavers are young people aged 16-25 years old who have been in care of the local authority at some point since they were 14-years old and were in care on or after their sixteenth birthday.
Last Updated 22 November 2024
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