To address this, a charity has been trialling a new approach to supporting care-experienced young people that takes its origins from a model that enables adults with learning disabilities to live alongside carers in their home.
Called Shared Lives, the approach provides support and accommodation built on relationships and connections that young people have in their local community.
Long standing challenges
For the last 10 months, Shared Lives Plus, the membership organisation for Shared Lives schemes and Shared Lives carers, has been running a Care Leavers programme to grow the model for care leavers, recognising that there are long standing challenges with good transitions and a well-publicised “cliff edge” at 18 for many young people. Many schemes are registered to support people from 16, allowing for a flexible transition at a time that best suits the individual.
Some 30 schemes have signed up to the programme and are actively growing and developing their offer locally. Together, through a community of practice with schemes and through engagement with stakeholders, we are tackling key barriers and developing opportunities.
A big challenge is the lack of awareness of Shared Lives, especially among people working in children's social care and the young people themselves. If they don't know it's there, they are unlikely to seek it out. But that could be changing; the programme has already created a collection of awareness raising resources available on our website for young people, professionals, and foster carers, to address this.
Evidence shows that the model not only delivers better and more sustainable outcomes but provides significant savings for councils. Disabled care leavers, which data suggests are a large part of the care leaver population, can particularly benefit from Shared Lives, however, so can young people with autism and other neurodiversity.
Alongside awareness raising, the programme is creating a range of training for Shared Lives schemes and carers, so they have the knowledge and skills to support care leavers. This includes trauma training, transitional safeguarding, and sessions to understand care from those with lived experience.
It's early days in the programme, but the signs are positive. Of the 60-plus young people who have taken part to date, nearly 80% are in stable employment, education, or training (compared with 60% nationally) and report higher levels of wellbeing and social connection.
Our evaluation has shown that young people are being referred too late which means that arrangements often don't start until they have passed 18, which can result in uncertainty and temporary arrangements to bridge the gap.
Broadening eligibility
At present, almost all care leavers accessing Shared Lives have an eligible Care Act need for support and accommodation, which means their arrangement is funded by adult social care services. We are working with schemes to broaden this so that those who have a need and could benefit from Shared Lives, such as young people with autism, who are neurodiverse, or have experienced complex trauma, can be supported by children's social care leaving care funding, under Staying Close arrangements.
Over the next 12 months we will continue to raise awareness with our new care-experienced ambassadors, including producing films and presenting at national conferences and events.
Shared Lives Plus will be supporting more schemes to work with children's services to embed pathways into Shared Lives and encourage investment into the schemes so they can support even more young people. We also hope to have Shared Lives included in national guidance for Staying Close, as it becomes a duty for all local authorities to provide.
- Rachel Leslie is strategic advisor, care leavers and transitions at Shared Lives Plus
RESOURCES
Care Leavers Shared Lives programme
Partners in Care and Health (PCH) guidance published in March 2025
