Care-experienced young people are significantly more likely than their peers to experience mental health difficulties. This is often shaped by adversity, instability, and disrupted relationships over time. 

While this is well-established, much of the evidence comes from adult perspectives; professionals, carers, and administrative data, rather than young people’s own lived experiences and views. This limits our understanding of how young people make sense of distress and decide whether, when, and where to seek help. Without this, services risk being designed around assumptions that don’t reflect real experiences.

The Care-experienced young people’s mental health help-seeking behaviours (COLLAGE) research study aims to amplify the voices of young people with experience of foster care, kinship care, or residential care. Funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research and led by the University of Birmingham, the study explores how care-experienced young people aged 13–25 seek support for mental health. This includes care leavers and young people currently in care.

Early insights from existing research, and from our ongoing work, suggest that help-seeking is rarely straightforward. It is shaped by trust, identity, and past experiences of services, and often unfolds over time rather than in a single moment of crisis. Young people may test disclosure informally first, weighing up questions like: Will I be believed? Will this help? Will they understand me?

For many, these decisions are influenced by previous interactions with professionals. Trust can be built gradually through consistent, relational support, but it can also be undermined quickly. Similarly, young people with multiple or intersecting identities - including those who are LGBTQ+, racially minoritised, disabled, or neurodivergent - may assess whether services feel relevant or safe before engaging. These young people often face both higher levels of mental health need and additional barriers to support. This can be linked to stigma, discrimination, or a lack of culturally responsive care. For these young people, help-seeking can feel riskier, particularly where they expect to be misunderstood or not taken seriously.

These are not new ideas, but they are often underrepresented in the evidence that informs practice. This is why it is so important that care-experienced young people’s voices are meaningfully included in research.

The COLLAGE study has been co-produced with care-experienced young people from the outset. Young advisors have shaped the design, materials, and approach, helping to ensure the research is relevant, accessible, and grounded in lived experience.

We are currently inviting care-experienced young people in England to take part in:

• a short anonymous online survey (aged 13–25), and/or
• a one-to-one online interview (aged 16–25).

The interviews will focus particularly on young people with minoritised identities, whose experiences are often underrepresented in research.

Practitioners play a vital role in making this possible. Many care-experienced young people will only hear about opportunities like this through trusted adults in their lives. Sharing research opportunities can therefore be an important part of supporting young people to have their voices heard and to shape the services they use.

We recognise that sharing research must always be done thoughtfully and appropriately. The survey is anonymous, and both the survey and interviews include clear information about the study, consent, and signposting to support if needed. Participation is entirely voluntary.

If you work with care-experienced young people, we would really value your support in:

• Sharing the study with eligible young people where appropriate.
• Discussing participation in a way that feels safe and accessible.
• Helping us reach groups whose voices are often underrepresented.

Further information about the study can be found on the project website.

By supporting this work, you are helping to build a stronger evidence base grounded in young people’s real experiences, leading to more responsive, inclusive, and effective mental health support.

Findings from the COLLAGE study will be shared with Research in Practice, helping to ensure that insights from care-experienced young people directly inform practice and service development.