The Department for Education has published a significant new programme that could fundamentally reshape how England supports children and young people at risk of, or experiencing, deprivation of liberty (DoL).

Known as Home Again, the programme is far more than a funding opportunity. It provides a clear indication of the Government’s future direction for supporting some of the most vulnerable children in the country and reinforces many of the ambitions already set out in the children’s social care reform programme.

Why is Home Again needed?

The number of children subject to applications for Deprivation of Liberty Orders (DoLOs) has risen dramatically over recent years. The DfE reports that applications have increased from around 300 in 2019/20 to more than 1,400 in 2025.

These children often experience multiple and overlapping needs, including:

• Complex trauma
• Mental health difficulties
• Neurodiversity
• Self-harm
• Child exploitation
• Missing episodes
• Placement instability
• Family breakdown

Many have already received support from numerous agencies, yet continue to experience repeated crises, placement disruptions and increasingly restrictive interventions. The DfE believes that services too often respond once situations have escalated rather than intervening early enough to prevent crisis.

A new way of working

At the heart of Home Again is a move away from fragmented support towards genuinely integrated multi-agency practice.

Rather than children receiving separate assessments and interventions from different organisations, Home Again proposes the creation of specialist regional multidisciplinary teams bringing together expertise from:

• Children’s social care
• Mental health services
• Education
• Youth Justice
• Clinical psychology
• Occupational Therapy
• Speech and Language Therapy
• Other specialist practitioners

The aim is to provide one coordinated assessment, one shared understanding of need and one integrated intervention plan for every child referred into the programme.

Preventing crisis instead of managing it

One of the most significant aspects of Home Again is its focus on prevention.

The programme is not simply about supporting children who are already deprived of their liberty. It is equally focused on identifying children whose needs and behaviours indicate they may be moving towards crisis and providing coordinated intervention before restrictive measures become necessary.

The ambition is clear:

• Reduce the number of children requiring deprivation of liberty.
• Reduce the length of restrictive orders.
• Reduce repeat deprivation of liberty.
• Eliminate the use of unregistered placements for these children wherever possible.

A stronger emphasis on relationships

Home Again strongly reflects the Government’s wider Enduring Relationships Strategy.

Throughout the guidance, there is a consistent emphasis on ensuring children experience:

• Stable, trusted adults
• Fewer placement moves
• Greater continuity of professional relationships
• Relationship-based interventions
• Long-term emotional stability

This reinforces the growing recognition that positive relationships are often the most effective protective factor for children with complex needs.

One assessment and one plan

The programme introduces a standardised Assessment of Need (AoN), designed to bring together information from across agencies into a single assessment.

Rather than children repeatedly telling their story to different professionals, Home Again aims to create:

• A shared understanding of strengths and risks.
• Coordinated multi-agency decision-making.
• One integrated intervention plan aligned with existing care planning, child protection or Family Help arrangements.

This represents one of the most practical and potentially transformative elements of the programme.

Education becomes central

Another notable feature is the prominence given to education.

Every child supported through Home Again should have a clear education pathway, with strong involvement from Virtual School Heads and access to flexible, therapeutic and alternative educational provision where required.

The guidance references established models such as No Wrong Door, iROC, the Somerset Therapeutic Education model, The Mulberry Bush and The Hive as examples of innovative practice.

Investment in specialist intervention

The DfE expects Home Again teams to provide access to evidence-based interventions including:

• Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (TF-CBT)
• Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR)
• Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP)
• Multisystemic Therapy (MST)
• Functional Family Therapy (FFT)
• Attachment and relationship-based interventions
• Therapeutic parenting approaches
• Emotional regulation programmes
• Neurodevelopmental support

Importantly, these interventions are expected to operate within a coordinated multi-agency framework rather than in isolation.

Regional collaboration

Initially, up to five Regional Care Cooperatives (RCCs) will be funded to establish Home Again, with approximately £3 million available per area over three years.

The expectation is that these regional partnerships will develop sustainable models through pooled budgets involving local authorities, Integrated Care Boards and other partners before national expansion.

What does this mean for providers?

Although Home Again is aimed primarily at Regional Care Cooperatives, its principles are highly relevant to children’s homes, supported accommodation providers, fostering services and other organisations supporting vulnerable children.

We expect to see increasing emphasis on:

• Trauma-informed and relationship-based practice.
• Multi-agency collaboration.
• Earlier intervention.
• Integrated assessments.
• Therapeutic approaches to behaviour.
• Educational engagement.
• Reducing restrictive practice.
• Better coordination between health, education, youth justice and social care.

Providers that are already embedding these approaches will be well placed to contribute to future regional models.

What does this mean for the workforce?

For leaders and practitioners, Home Again highlights the growing importance of developing skills in:

• Multi-agency working.
• Trauma-informed care.
• Neurodiversity.
• Mental health.
• Therapeutic interventions.
• Reflective practice.
• Risk assessment.
• Professional curiosity.
• Relationship-based care.
• Integrated planning.

As children’s social care continues to evolve, investment in workforce development will remain essential to delivering the ambitions set out within the programme.

Final thoughts

Home Again is one of the most significant children’s social care policy documents published this year. While it is currently a funding programme for selected Regional Care Cooperatives, it also provides a clear vision of how the Government expects support for children with the most complex needs to develop over the coming years.

The direction is unmistakable: earlier intervention, stronger relationships, integrated multi-agency working and fewer restrictive responses.

For providers, managers and practitioners across children’s social care, this is a document well worth reading. Many of the principles outlined are likely to influence future commissioning, inspection expectations and professional practice long after the initial pilot phase has concluded.