Describing the mixed economy of community care in England, this work analyzes the efforts and activities of local authorities to promote and develop it. It is based on national documentary and statistical evidence and on more detailed research with twenty-four local authorities, and includes a case study on the transfer of residential homes to the independent sector. The roles of Social Services Departments have been progressively redefined to emphasize responsibility for creating and managing a mixed economy. This entails a major cultural shift for departments, which may be summarized as involving moves from providing to enabling, and from administration to management. It also implies the need for new skills and structures. This work traces the historical changes; the local interpretations of central government policy; how authorities actually have been developing mixed economies; the main opportunities or incentives for promoting a mixed economy; and the main obstacles to its development.