Route map: Where children live

The Promise Scotland will host a meeting with children and young people with experience of care, and with the people and organisations that support adoptive parents, foster carers and kinship carers, to review and further refine the “where children live” route map, with a view to publishing a further update in the first half of the new year.

The Scottish Government will continue to work towards implementing the commitments set out in the Supporting Adoption: Vision & Priorities for Scotland. This includes work around timely adoption and good transitions, aiming to reduce delays and uncertainty in the process; consistent and comprehensive post-adoption support, not just for children, but for adoptive families and adult adoptees; developing training and resources for caregivers and practitioners so they can provide trauma-informed care; and improving awareness and understanding across society of the role and impact of adoption, and the support needs associated with it.

The Adoption Task Force will work with partners to assess the implementation of concurrent planning in Scotland, identifying the barriers and enablers to its implementation. This includes considering the current policy and legislative framework around the dual registration of foster carers and adoptive parents.

The Adoption Task Force, collaboratively with partners, will consider mapping support for adoptive families across Scotland to understand how implementation of the commitments set out in the Supporting Adoption: Vision & Priorities for Scotland are progressing and where the gaps are to help inform local and national Government planning processes.

The Scottish Government will publish a Framework for Supporting Children and Young People in Crisis. The Framework will set out what good looks like for crisis support across Scotland to support local areas to ensure they are providing effective support for their populations. This will be published early 2026. The Framework highlights the importance of ensuring that any crisis supports or services are accessible to high-risk groups, such as those on the edges of care, or those who are care experienced.

The Scottish Government, building on their exploratory work with the Adoption Taskforce in 2025, will identify and work with partners on scoping and beginning development of a national framework, guide and toolkit for practitioners to support life journey work.

Local authorities will test new approaches and capture learning relating to supporting adoptive families and children who have been adopted.

All local authorities will begin, or continue to, record adoption breakdowns, and work will be undertaken collaboratively by local areas, to ensure that data is collected consistently and analysed. The reasons for adoption breakdown will be understood and services will be supported to adapt and change based on the information collected to better respond to the needs of adopted children and adoptive families experiencing distress and challenge.

Learning from different approaches to support for children and young people who have been adopted and adoptive families will be regularly assessed and approaches scaled up where appropriate.

Local authorities will evidence, through their fostering and adoption recruitment activity, that dual registered foster carers and adoptive parents have been recruited and supported and that this has made a difference to the lives of children and families.

Adoptive families and children, young people and adults who have been adopted will be supported to access comprehensive, equitable, lifelong support that covers a range of needs for themselves and their families including emotional and wellbeing support, education, sibling relationships, identity and heritage-related support and support through legal and social care processes. 

Investment will have been made to ensure that care experienced children are able to access adequate and appropriate mental health support.

The Promise Scotland will support a series of discussions in the new year, bringing together collective expertise from organisations that support kinship, foster and adoptive families, as well as children and young people living in residential care. These discussions will inform the development of the “where children live” route map, helping to surface where progress is underway and where further change is needed.

As the Care, Care Experience and Services Planning (Scotland) Bill progresses (subject to parliamentary approval) there are likely to be further amendments considered relating to foster and kinship care, to uphold the right to care and support. This may include consideration of increasing the Scottish Recommended Allowance in line with inflation.

The Scottish Government has finalised and published the analysis and responses to the consultation on the future of foster care and will progress Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) Bill provisions on the national register of foster carers and IFAs as charities at Stage 2 (subject to parliamentary approval) and begin work on the updated learning framework and allegations guidance. This will be part of a wider strategic plan the Scottish Government will develop, with input from partners and those with lived experience, on how the Scottish Government will deliver the vision for foster care in a way that is impactful and feasible within the constraints of resources and workforce. An update to this work will be provided in spring 2026.

The Scottish Government will work with relevant partners to ensure that all foster carers receive at least a minimum level of trauma- informed training as part of a learning and development framework.

The Scottish Government should work with local authorities, health, education and the third sector as well as directly alongside children and foster care families to ensure that changes made to foster care and support for foster care families, including implementation of a 'flexible fostering' approach is developed in line with the conclusions of the Independent Care Review.

The Scottish Government will ensure that the voices and experiences of children, young people and care experienced adults will continue to guide the recommended reforms to foster care. 

The Scottish Government will consider increasing the Scottish Recommended Allowance in line with inflation. This work will include considering how to ensure all foster carers receive a sufficient Scottish Recommended Allowance.

The Children's Hearings Redesign Board will consider the recommendations from 'Hearings for Children' relating to ensuring that Hearings hear from people important to the child and who know them best and work will begin/continue, alongside children with experience of foster care and foster carers, to better ensure foster carers are able to participate in Children's Hearings where this is safe and in the best interests of the child.

The Scottish Government will publish a Framework for Supporting Children and Young People in Crisis. The Framework will set out what good looks like for crisis support across Scotland to support local areas to ensure they are providing effective support for their populations. This will be published early 2026. The Framework will highlight the importance of ensuring that any crisis supports or services are accessible to high-risk groups, such as those on the edges of care, or those who are care experienced. 

Further discussions will take place between the Scottish Government, local authorities and organisations working alongside children living in foster care and foster carers to ensure that young people are able to stay with foster families for as long as they need and continuing care allowances are sufficient to support this. This will include a review of the implementation of the existing legislation set out in Parts 10 and 11 of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2024 and the resource gaps that must be addressed in order to improve current implementation and support requirements so that the rights of children and young people can be upheld.

Initial small-scale testing of the course, ‘Thriving Futures’, took place in March 2025 in West Lothian with a group of foster carers. The Scottish Government will continue to work with stakeholders and carers to test the materials further and consider next steps to further test and develop this resource.

The National Register for Foster Carers is expected to be piloted in Scotland (subject to parliamentary approval. This date may change).

The Scottish Government's work to develop a 'flexible fostering' approach will continue, including consideration of innovative fostering projects and ideas that better support foster carers and ensure children and young people living with foster carers feel supported and their rights upheld. There will also be consideration of additional services--or sustaining existing services--to deliver improved support for foster carers, including therapeutic, peer and out-of-hours support. 

There will be consideration of whether continuing care will be extended to at least age 26 and how foster carers can be supported to achieve this.

There are no milestones identified for this year yet. Once progress is made in earlier years, the work required in this year will be clearer and milestones will be added here.

There will be a pool of locally- based foster carers to enable all children ton live with carers who can meet their needs, in their communities.

The legislation around Continuing Care will be fully funded and implemented and there will have been consideration of its extension to at least age 26.

Measures will have been introduced to ensure that every child living with foster cares will be able to nurture and maintain positive, lifelong, trusting relationships with their family and others who are important to them, including foster carers.

Investment will have been made to ensure that care experienced children are able to access adequate and appropriate mental health support.

All foster carers will have access to an improved support network or person who can provide overnight care for the children they foster.

The Promise Scotland will support a series of discussions in the new year, bringing together collective expertise from organisations that support kinship, foster and adoptive families, as well as children and young people living in residential care. These discussions will inform the development of the “where children live” route map, helping to surface where progress is underway and where further change is needed.

The Care Inspectorate will launch its new Corporate Plan outlining the priorities the Care Inspectorate will take forward to deliver on its commitment to the Promise by 2030.

The Scottish Government will publish a Framework for Supporting Children and Young People in Crisis. The Framework will set out what good looks like for crisis support across Scotland to support local areas to ensure they are providing effective support for their populations. This will be published early 2026. The Framework highlights the importance of ensuring that any crisis supports or services are accessible to high-risk groups, such as those on the edges of care, or those who are care experienced. 

National review of workforce development frameworks; evaluate the impact of values-based training on practice and culture.

Compassionate and relational practice standards fully embedded across workforce regulation, inspection, and continuous learning systems.

There are no milestones identified for this year yet. Once progress is made in earlier years, the work required in this year will be clearer and milestones will be added here.

Investment will have been made to ensure that care experienced children are able to access adequate and appropriate mental health support.

Scottish Government aim to launch a consultation on the future of secure care by the end of this Parliament. It is expected this will focus on:

• The future purpose and function of secure care, including routes into and transitions from secure care.
• Secure care funding and commissioning models.
• The proposed “flex secure” model, and how it could be tailored to Scotland’s unique context.
• The role of community-based alternatives to secure accommodation and how they could interface with secure settings.
• The development of aftercare, transitions, and reintegration support for children leaving secure care.

The consultation on Secure Care will close and the responses will be analysed. The Scottish Government will consider the responses and continue to work alongside stakeholders and children, families and care experienced adults with experience of Secure Care to make further changes, including to the operating model for Secure Care and potential legislative changes that may be required.

The Scottish Government will review the results of the consultation and consider the need for more therapeutic supports in secure care, in line with the models proposed in the Reimagining Secure Care Report. As part of this work, the Scottish Government will consider the need for more specific therapeutic supports and help in the community for vulnerable girls who have been sexually abused and exploited.

Following the analysis of the consultation on the future of secure care, the Scottish Government will develop a joint action plan with COSLA to underpin the 'Reimagining Secure Care' response.

The Scottish Government has set out a two-phased delivery roadmap (system reform + testing): Phase 1 2025/26–2027/28 has been/ will be focused on capacity restoration/reinforcement and contingency planning (restoring capacity, building resilience).  In 2026, the Scottish Government will work with Kibble to explore the establishment of up to three 4-bedded future-proofed houses.

The Scottish Government will explore the potential for the National Social Work Agency (NSWA) to include a new national secure accommodation placement and co-ordination function.

The Scottish Government will invest a further £1.4 million in the secure care workforce as part of the commitment to Fair Work in children’s social care, aimed at recruitment, retention, and long-term sustainability.

The Scottish Government will publish a Framework for Supporting Children and Young People in Crisis. The Framework will set out what good looks like for crisis support across Scotland to support local areas to ensure they are providing effective support for their populations. This will be published early 2026. The Framework highlights the importance of ensuring that any crisis supports or services are accessible to high-risk groups, such as those on the edges of care, or those who are care experienced.

In response to the findings of the 2022 Children (Care and Justice) Bill consultation, a provision was included in the Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Act 2024 requiring Scottish Ministers to create and publish standards for the safe and secure transport of children up to age 18, and in some cases young people up to 19. These standards must be published and presented to Parliament by 1 September 2026.

April 2026: Commencement of new secure accommodation contract managed by Scotland Excel. This is the national framework for secure accommodation services.

Resilience of existing secure care provision must be enhanced.

Existing issues relating to recruitment, retention and workforce capacity require to be addressed to maintain high quality care within secure care.

If not already done so, completion of National Trauma Training Programme should be incorporated into staff training for those who work within the secure estate.

Scottish Government will review existing and future secure care transport arrangements to ensure the provision is fit for purpose to meet current and future needs of children. This should lead to more consistent and high-quality provision for children requiring this service.

Scottish Government will continue piloting, testing and evaluating approaches to Reimagining Secure Care.

Depending on the outcome of the consultation on the future of secure care, the Scottish Government will explore and implement a new funding and commissioning model for secure care.

Expected development of Secure Care regulations. To ensure parity of oversight and governance, these should reflect the levels of scrutiny contained within cross border regulations published in early 2026. 

In supporting a new cohort of young adults, secure care providers will be required to consider how best to support 18-year-olds and making links to age-appropriate training and education services are necessary.

By April 2027 at the latest, all elements of the Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Act 2024 are intended to have been enacted. Once enacted, this will afford children who turn 18 years of age the opportunity to remain in secure care until their 19th birthday. 

The Scottish Government will roll out the remaining parts of the Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Act 2024 in phases. Work with partners is ongoing to manage the complex links between provisions and ensure smooth implementation. Timelines are being shaped by multi-agency working groups and parliamentary requirements to support commencement by the last quarter of the 2026-27 financial year. The Scottish Government's goal is to implement these provisions as soon as it is safe to do so, with clear plans to support preparation by all agencies.

The Scottish Government will continue to explore opportunities to strengthen real-time data collection and analysis to support robust data modelling and improve the ability to predict future secure care capacity requirements. This includes exploring how fluctuations in demand can inform more accurate forecasting and planning. They will have put in place plans to track secure care usage and capacity, including assessment of fluctuations in need to ensure timely action and ensure that future projection is based on accurate provisions of need. As part of this work, the Scottish Government will explore the possible expansion of the remit of the National Social Work Agency (NSWA) to include a national oversight placement co-ordination function which would strengthen real-time data, national oversight and management of available spaces for children. Modelling will be undertaken to project demand and to build a clearer understanding of trends and needs. 

In responding to the results of the consultation, consideration should be given to the scale and size of any new secure provision, as well as geographical location across Scotland.

Staffing within secure care – or alternative provision – should take account of the skillsets and expertise highlighted within the ‘community hubs’ model proposed within the Reimagining Secure Care project, mindful that children within secure care often face a variety of health, educational, relationship and trauma related challenges. Existing barriers to recruitment and retention of such a cohort of staff must be overcome through enhanced working conditions and remuneration.
         

Depending on the outcome of the consultation on the future of secure care, the Scottish Government will explore and implement a new funding and commissioning model for secure care.

Scottish Government's Secure Care Roadmap will enter Stage 2: Phase 2 2028/29–2029/30 focused on road-testing/readiness for “reimagining” and applying learning from piloting, testing and evaluation.    

By 2028, provisions of the Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Act 2024 will have been implemented which will enable some young people to remain in secure care up to the age of 19, where appropriate, to ensure continuity of support children should have the option of staying within a secure accommodation beyond their 18th birthday, with a planned transition put in place that best supports them to make a move over to the prison estate if necessary.      

Creation of the physical spaces that will provide the resources called for in the Reimagining Secure Care consultation. This will require partnership working between secure care providers, the Scottish Government, NHS, Scottish Social Work Partnership and other key stakeholders. Consideration should be given to geographical spread of any new resources, mindful of the impact that being extended distances from family and friends can have upon the child. These provisions should be created with future legislative changes in mind that will lead to children staying there until their 19th birthday.        

‘Holding Differently, Containing Distress’ will conclude, with final report cascaded across the residential and secure estates. This will increase emotional and physical safety of children and staff and serve as a foundation of positive child development.

The Scottish Government's vision for secure care, embedded in the 'reimagining secure care roadmap' will have been implemented. This includes:

• Transforming the purpose, delivery and infrastructure of secure care, ensuring Scotland's response to the small number of children who require this level of care and support is fundamentally different.
• Addressing inconsistencies across care settings and strengthening alignment between services, ensuring a coherent, rights-based approach that places children at the centre of decision making.
• A reduction in the reliance on secure care, with children only living in secure care when absolutely necessary and never as a default escalation when other help and support has failed.
• Planning and provision of secure care is based on need, ensuring both sufficient places for children and expansion of accessible, community- based alternatives aligned with intensive family support principles.
• Placing therapeutic, trauma- informed care at the heart of secure provision.

This route map will be developed further in 2026 with support from the Guardianship service.

New Scots Refugee Integration Strategy and Delivery Plan 2024–26: Invest in community initiatives which build on existing good practices and address key priorities identified through the community consultation and/or which support those groups whose needs have already been highlighted, including women, children and young people, older people, disabled people, and members of the LGBTQI+ community.

A review of the New Scots Refugee Integration Delivery Plan must be published. The New Scots Core Group will have monitored delivery-plan actions, assessed delivery risks, and agreed any necessary operational changes, and the Leadership Board will approve and publish the annual review as the strategy’s decision-making body providing political oversight (including any required political changes)—with a clear line of sight on what this means for Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children.

The Scottish Government will publish its refreshed Mental Health Delivery Plan aligned with Population Health Framework, this must be matched with adequate investment to deliver key priorities and ensure support for minority ethnic groups including unaccompanied asylum seeking children:

• Expand community and school-based mental health support.
• Increase trauma-informed practice training for staff working with children and young people.

The Scottish Government, COSLA and partners must set out plans to publish a refreshed strategy with clear timescales, leadership, and monitoring to secure Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children rights and improve access to support.

In line with United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child incorporation. There must be increased support and opportunities for all corporate parents to be trained in United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, with specific attention to immigration-related decision-making and trauma-informed practice.

The Scottish Government, with support from the Child and Family Mental Health Joint Strategic Board, will publish a Framework to Support Children and Young People Experiencing Mental Health Crisis. Care experienced children and young people have been considered throughout its development, within the higher risk groups of children and young people.

Ensure effective and consistent implementation of age assessment guidance across local authorities in Scotland with clear local multi-agency protocols with health, education, Home Office liaison. 

There are no milestones identified for this year yet. Once progress is made in earlier years, the work required in this year will be clearer and milestones will be added here.

There are no milestones identified for this year yet. Once progress is made in earlier years, the work required in this year will be clearer and milestones will be added here.

Complaints and litigation about age assessment fall significantly from 2025 baseline; young people report that the process is understandable, fair and minimises distress.

Early 2026: Expected consultation on the future of secure care published by the Scottish Government. This is expected to invite views on the financial model and current arrangements, with a focus on exploring more sustainable funding approaches to support financial viability and continuing to the number of cross border 'placements'  in Scotland.

February 2026: Publish foster-care-specific practice guidance to accompany the Regulations. The guidance will be primarily for local authorities in England or Wales and Health and Social Care Trusts in Northern Ireland which are involved in the placing of children into residential and foster care in Scotland. 

February-March 2026: Awareness raising about new cross border regulations with placing Local Authorities and Scottish partners in relation to the new requirements under the regulations. Key activities will include:

• Information sessions for all stakeholders.
• Targeted engagement with placing authorities from across the UK and Scottish stakeholders, and
• The development of practice guidance to support placing authorities to adhere to the duties set out in the Regulations.

9th February 2026: The Cross-border Placement of Children (Requirements, Effect and Enforcement) (Scotland) Regulations 2026 will come into force (subject to parliamentary approval). The Regulations provide for the legal recognition of orders and arrangements where children are placed cross-border into residential or foster care in Scotland. They also set out conditions to be met for temporary placements to help to ensure that there is appropriate oversight of these placements, roles and responsibilities are clear and that children’s rights are upheld. The Regulations also include provision requiring Scottish Ministers to offer and fund independent advocacy for all children subject to cross-border placements into residential care in Scotland. 

Separately, advocacy for cross border fostering placements will be delivered through the Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Bill, subject to parliamentary approval.

February 2026 onwards: Data collected on cross border placements under new regulations.

2026 onwards: The Scottish Government will work to consider whether additional measures and would be beneficial in the context of fostering placements.

April 2026: Commencement of new secure accommodation contract managed by Scotland Excel. This is the national framework for secure accommodation services.

November–December 2026: The Scottish Government will agree an approach in relation to  a formal evaluation of the effectiveness of the Cross-border Placement of Children (Requirements, Effect and Enforcement) (Scotland) Regulations 2026 

There is currently limited national clarity on arrangements for children placed cross-border into kinship care in Scotland. During 2026, Scottish Government will work with UK counterparts and Scottish Local Authorities to clarify:

• The legal status and effect of orders underpinning kinship placements;
• Access to financial support and allowances;
• Expectations around needs assessments;
• The availability of support, advice and advocacy for kinship carers and children.

This work will align with the development of Scotland’s Kinship Care Vision and any legislative changes related to kinship support.

Consideration of the formal review of the Regulations that was undertaken in 2027.

As part of the broader work around the language of care consider use of terms such as ‘cross border placement’.

Children living cross-border in foster or kinship care will require equal clarity on access to CAMHS, therapeutic support, educational entitlements, family time arrangements and social work visiting patterns. The Scottish Government, local authorities, Social Work Scotland, Health Boards, education, the third sector and other stakeholders will work alongside the care community to set out national expectations for service access for these children.

The Scottish Government will work with partners to explore options to ensure young people living in Scotland via cross-border arrangements who wish to remain here are not disadvantaged in their access to continuing care, aftercare, education or other entitlements available to their Scottish peers. This includes identifying legal, financial, and operational barriers and potential solutions.

To support the conclusions of the Independent Care Review relating to cross-border placements, Scottish Government will work with counterparts across the UK to analyse drivers of cross-border demand, share data, and identify preventative actions that reduce reliance on placements outwith a child’s home nation. This includes modelling impacts on fostering, kinship care and specialist provision.

In line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024, work will be undertaken to ensure that children and young people's right to advocacy, participation, family life, education and health apply consistently across all cross-border placement types, including fostering and kinship care.

Work that began in 2026 and 2027 will continue to progress. The 'where children live' route map will be continued to be updated as this work progresses.

There are no milestones identified for this year yet. Once progress is made in earlier years, the work required in this year will be clearer and milestones will be added here.

There are no milestones identified for this year yet. Once progress is made in earlier years, the work required in this year will be clearer and milestones will be added here.