A near £1 million grant is to help fund innovative "early intervention" programmes in the Westcountry for some of the most vulnerable in society.
The BIG Lottery Fund has put up £927,500 for the partnership project between councils in Devon and Cornwall, led by Torbay.
The funding comes from Next Steps: Supporting Social Investment in England which is exploring new approaches to raising finance to help tackle significant social problems.
It will enable the council partnership to form a new body – known as a "local integrated service trust" – to pull together public sector funding and help attract investment from third parties into a "common purse" to target and help specific communities and issues.
One of the first programmes will look to help support children and young people to stay safely in their homes.
Nat Sloane, chairman of the BIG Lottery Fund England, said: "I anticipate that this landmark proposal we are funding today will demonstrate an innovative new way of tackling deep rooted social issues while bringing more sustainability to voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations."