Care Leavers

Continuing Care

Continuing care is the continued provision of the accommodation and other assistance, immediately before the young person ceases to be looked after, being provided by local authorities, under section 67 of The Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014, which inserted a new section 26A in the Children (Scotland) 1995 Act. Please see background notes for eligibility criteria.

Young people ceasing to be looked after during the year and entering continuing care

Table 12 Number of young people aged 16 years old or over ceasing to be looked after with a destination of Continuing Care by placement type [Note 1], [Note 2], [Note 3]

[Note 1] Kinship placements include placements where young people are with family/relatives.

[Note 2] Foster placements include placements where young people are with foster carers provided by Local Authority or with foster carers purchased by Local Authority.

[Note 3] Residential placements include placements in Local Authority home, in voluntary home, residential school, secure care and other residential.

During 2024-25, the proportion of young people ceasing to be looked after with a destination of continuing care has increased from 9% in 2023-24 to 11% in 2024-25 (Table 13). Of all young people ceasing to be looked after during the year with a destination of continuing care, the greatest proportion were in foster care (41%), followed by residential accommodation (30%) and kinship care (29%). Almost two thirds of young people ceasing to be looked after during the year with a destination of continuing care were aged 18 years (62%).

Table 13 Number and percentage of young people ceasing to be looked after during the year with a destination of continuing care by age and placement type, 2021-25 [note 1], [Note 2], [Note 3], [Note 4]

[Note 1] Kinship placements include placements where young people are with family/relatives.

[Note 2] Foster placements include placements where young people are with foster carers provided by Local Authority or with foster carers purchased by Local Authority.

[Note 3] Residential placements include placements in Local Authority home, in voluntary home, residential school, secure care and other residential.

[Note 4] The total excludes those who have a destination of Continuing Care but whose final placement did not match eligibility criteria for continuing care (i.e. kinship, foster or residential).

Young people in continuing care as at 31 July

On 31 July 2025, 1,155 young people were in continuing care (Table 14). This is an increase of 4% on the figure from 2024 (1,115). 56% of young people in continuing care were aged 19-21 years old, followed by 35% aged 18, 7% aged 17 years old and a smaller percentage (2%) who were 16 years old. On 31 July 2025, 4,927 young people were eligible for continuing care, of whom 1,150 were receiving continuing care (23%). This is a slight increase in proportion of eligible young people in receipt of continuing care compared to the previous year where 1,115 (22%) of the 4,985 were receiving continuing care.

Table 14 Number and percentage of young people receiving continuing care by age on 31 July [Note 2]

[Note 1] Young people aged 22+ are not technically eligible for Continuing Care but there may be some special cases.

[Note 2] Due to a change in the data collection, data from 2024 onwards may not be directly comparable to previous years.

On 31 July 2025, the rate per 1,000 young people (16-21 years) receiving Continuing Care was 3.1, a slight increase from 2024 (3.0) (see Additional Table 14).