Announced by Children’s & Families Minister Josh MacAlister, the 3-year Department for Education (DfE) funding will be invested in a new service that will provide stability for young people at the most challenging times, keeping them where they belong and reducing the risk of them being deprived of their liberty.
The London Regional Care Cooperative will now set up the new service that will bring together specialist expertise to get the right support to young people at the right time. This team will work with partners across the Capital to reduce crisis driven responses and restrictive interventions. Instead, they will drive towards more stable solutions to keep young people connected to their families, their communities and schools.
Specialist practitioners from social care, health, education and youth justice will work together to develop a single assessment and coordinated support plan for children with complex needs. The programme is focused on reducing unnecessary deprivation of liberty orders, reducing repeat orders and ending reliance on unregistered care placements.
Tim Aldridge, Chair of the London Regional Care Cooperative Board, said:
“This new Home Again team for London will bring together expertise from across the city to make earlier interventions and provide more support to keep children safe whilst reducing the need for restrictions on liberty. We’ll help more children remain safely connected to their families and communities, while reducing the need for restrictive interventions and crisis responses.”
“We know that children who are deprived of their liberty sadly often have poor outcomes. Often these interventions are made with the best intentions, but the current system often leads to the full range of restrictions being applied to a child. Instead, we want to see a tailored approach that considers and supports a child’s changing needs – this funding will help us to achieve this for some of London’s most vulnerable children and young people.
“This is a key milestone in greater collaboration across the capital to improve outcomes for children. We will be able to strengthen how agencies work together and ensure children receive joined-up support based on a shared understanding of their needs. This is a huge opportunity to improve the lives of children who face some of the most complex challenges.“
Home Again is being rolled out through selected Regional Care Cooperatives across England. Successful areas will begin implementation from Autumn 2026, with service delivery getting underway in April 2027.
London’s Home Again team operating through the new London Regional Care Cooperative framework with encompasses 33 local authorities. The team will coordinate assessments, interventions and planning, whilst providing access to evidence-based support including mental health services, family interventions, therapeutic support and specialist education.
The programme forms part of wider efforts to improve outcomes for children in care by strengthening multi-agency collaboration, supporting earlier intervention and building more sustainable services around children and families.