Issued by: Department for Education

Children in care and care leavers to be supported to build lifelong relationships, with £8.4 million delivered to expand Family Finding programmes

Children in care and care leavers will be able to reconnect with relatives, trusted adults, former carers, teachers and other important people in their lives, as the government expands family finding programmes across England.

Existing family finding schemes provide a ‘Who Do You Think You Are’ style service to care leavers, helping them locate and make contact with these important adults. Specially trained coordinators work with care-experienced children and young people to find out who is important to them and who they want to be back in touch with and then help make the right connections.

This builds up not just their support network but also their sense of identity and place in the world, leading to vital reunions with key people in their lives.

This is backed by a further £8.4 million investment in family finding programmes to roll them out across England and is part of the Enduring Relationships programme, published today.

Crucially this will enable them to build the support networks needed to thrive into adulthood – something which most of us take for granted.

The reforms follow the passage of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 — the biggest overhaul of children’s social care in a generation — and will make enduring relationships a central priority of the care system for the first time.

Since 2023, the government has funded 25 family finding programmes and these have shown promising results, with participating children and young people gaining an average of nearly two additional meaningful relationships.

More than a third reconnected with immediate family members, while others rebuilt connections with former teachers, social workers and other trusted adults.

Family Finding has a good evidence base. A study by the Policy Institute at King’s College London for the Centre for Homelessness Impact found that that one approach reduces the risk of homelessness by 10%. Forthcoming research findings also show that there were an average additional 2.2 connections for participants on Family Finding, showing that these programmes make a real difference in bringing care-experienced people closer to family.

Children’s Minister Josh MacAlister said:

"We are giving more children in care the chance to reconnect with people important to them and build the lifelong relationships that most of us rely on for love, support and stability throughout adulthood.

"For too long, the care system has been forced to focus on fighting fires, rather than helping children build the enduring relationships they need to achieve and thrive.

"This government is gripping the problem – we have passed the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act and now we are investing and reforming to give children’s social care the heart that children deserve."

The announcement forms part of the government’s wider programme of reform to shift children’s social care away from crisis intervention and towards stronger families, stable homes and lasting relationships.

This includes an ongoing drive to create 10,000 new foster care places this parliament, £2.4 billion of investment in the Families First Partnership programme to keep vulnerable families together where possible, and a new financial allowance pilot for kinship carers.

More than 81,000 children were in care as of March 2025, with many experiencing instability and isolation. In 2024, one in ten children in care moved home three or more times in a year, while more than one in five were living over 20 miles from their home community.

Evidence shows care experienced young people face significantly poorer outcomes later in life, including higher rates of unemployment, homelessness and mental ill health.

With today’s publication the government is recognising that the current system too often prioritises short-term risk management over maintaining important family and community connections, particularly in the context of shortages in foster care and residential placements.

Under the reforms, social workers and local authorities will be supported to place relationships at the centre of decision-making — including through stronger family group decision-making processes, support for reunification where safe, and expanded use of Family Network Support Packages to help children remain connected to their wider family networks.

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act expanded Staying Close support to all care leavers in England, meaning they will continue to get assistance from their local authority with crucial issues like housing, health and employment up to the age of 25.

Separately, the DfE is also today launching an expert-led review of the children’s homes to help make it more specialised and focused on supporting children with the most complex needs. The review will look at the skills, training and support children’s homes staff need to help children build stable, lasting relationships and achieve better outcomes. It will also recommend improvements to qualifications, career development and leadership to help recruit and retain quality staff and raise standards across the sector.

The Department for Education has also launched a 6-week public consultation, closing 14 July, on new statutory guidance for child safeguarding practitioners on the Information Sharing Duty designed to improve safeguarding and promotion of welfare for all children as introduced by the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act. It has been developed in partnership with stakeholder and practitioners, including the Information Commissioner’s Office.

This legal duty requires relevant organisations such as councils, social workers healthcare professionals and carers to share information relating to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, to ensure that agencies can more effectively protect children and understand their full circumstances. The new duty comes into force on 30 September and the consultation will help to refine guidance on how it works in practice.

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