On release from prison, many people re-enter the community with social care needs that are not appropriately addressed. This group is at risk of homelessness, unemployment, and self-harm. In England and Wales, the Care Act clarified that the responsibility for social care on release from prison lies with the local authority into which people return, but there is no universal, systematic way of monitoring and supporting individuals with these needs. Against this background, we sought insights regarding the planning and provision of social care for people in four ‘good practice’ local authority sites. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with sixteen staff. The thematic framework technique was used to code and analyse the data. Three key themes were identified: problematic policies and systems (including confusion over the ‘grey’ Care Act; siloed working), collaboration (including building relationships; engaging staff; specialist teams/roles), and person-centred approaches (including empowering service users; wrapping services around people; innovative commissioning). In conclusion, interviewees highlighted a palpable need to embrace person-centredness (including greater understanding of how people’s needs in prison may differ from their needs on release), to adopt creative commissioning strategies, and to equip people with the skills to cope in the community rather than being ‘set up to fail’.