Shared Lives for Young People Leaving Care programme update – September 2026

The Department for Education has named Shared Lives as one of three housing and support models that local authorities can choose from when delivering Staying Close. Staying Close is the national leaving care offer across England and will become a duty for all local authorities by 2028.

With support from schemes across the network, we’ve been able to contribute to the Staying Close guidance, which is due to be published in October, as well as wider guidance on preventing homelessness among care leavers. This is a significant achievement for Shared Lives and Shared Lives Plus. We will host a webinar in October (date tbc) to provide further information on this.

We are very close to launching our Care Leaver Training Programme. It is slightly later than we had hoped, but this training has been more than a year in the making and we’re so excited to share it with you.

Much of the learning comes directly from schemes involved in the programme, and we’re particularly proud that the voices and experiences of our Shared Lives ambassadors are at its heart. The training is applicable to all nations of the UK.

We have also launched three new interactive information packs, known as flipbooks, with embedded videos and useful links.

Each has been designed for a different audience to explain Shared Lives and provide the information most relevant to them.

• Flipbook one: For young people leaving care
• Flipbook two: Become a Shared Lives carer for a young person leaving care
• Flipbook three: For social care professionals supporting young people leaving care

Please do share these with anyone who may find them useful.

If you would like to find out more about the programme, please contact Mary Vaughan, Senior Project Officer, at mary.vaughan@sharedlivesplus.org.uk.

*This page is illustrated with a stock image.