Council apologises after care teenager's suicide
A local authority has apologised after a 17-year-old boy in its care killed himself because he was scared of leaving the system.
A review found that Child A, who was in the care of Powys County Council, had told professionals of his concerns, and how he was ill-prepared for the future.
However, just three weeks before his 18th birthday, the teenager took his own life.
The report found professionals lacked understanding around the impacts of care and early life experiences on Child A.
It comes on the back of the damning report into Powys’s children’s services, which found young people had been put at risk of harm.
A spokesman for the council said: "The local authority apologises unreservedly for the way in which it failed to provide appropriate support for this young man.
“It accepts in full the findings and recommendations in the report, which is being used to improve the quality of the services available to children and young people who are or have been looked after.
“The report makes clear children and young people need better care and support planning which considers all their needs, including emotional resilience and learning ability."
The extended child practice review undertaken by an independent author on behalf of the Mid and West Wales Safeguarding Board, found all of the agencies involved in the case overlooked the need to resolve professional differences with the local authority.
They did not hold the council to account or call them into action into coming up with a plan for child A.
There was evidence of poor quality care planning and failures to escalate concerns to a senior level, and the report said the council should develop a scheme to enable vulnerable looked after children to remain with their foster carers after 18 years of age.
At times there was a fractious relationship between the parents and professionals, that the parents were seen as difficult and their worry about their son was overlooked.
