‘He was left on his own’: the care-leaver lives lost to a system that abandons them at 18

Care-leavers experience a sometimes fatal drop in support as they transition from being a child to an adult. Photograph: Yana Iskayeva/Getty Images

David* spent most of his childhood in and out of care after experiencing abuse and neglect, and spent his teenage years in a children’s home, where a nurse helped him keep track of his type 1 diabetes.

But as he approached 18, things changed: he was moved into supported accommodation on his own, and then, at 19 years old, his diabetes nurse stopped working with him because of his age.