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A new joined up approach to tackle “troubled” families in England has been unveiled by the Prime Minister David Cameron in a speech earlier today.   This new approach would add one more dimension to the government’s commitment to previous Labour administration’s emphasis on early intervention.

Following the summer riots in England, the Prime Minister had already pledged to transform the lives of 120,000 “troubled” families who cost the taxpayer £75,000 each per year on support and intervention.  The government has set out families that meet five out of seven criteria – such as truanting children, parents with addiction and anti-social behaviour – would be classified as troubled families.

The government would help fund a network of “trouble shooters” who would identify families who need help and ensure that help is provided.  Although strictly, the participation of the family is voluntary, any “troubled” family that fails to participate in the programme could face consequences.  Councils could use existing powers to evict families from council housing as well as issue anti-social behaviour orders.

“These family workers will be a single point of contact for families, working out their needs as a whole for the first time and providing the right state services,” Cameron said. ‘When the front door opens and the worker goes in, they will see the family as a whole and get a plan of action together, agreed with the family.’

The government would allocate £448 Million to fund the programme which would be administered by local councils.  However, this money would only fund 40% of the costs of the programme and the remaining 60% would have to be funded by the respective local authorities that wish to use the programme.    

The Department of Communities and Local Government has already published estimated number of troubled families in each area and to receive part of the £448 Million councils would have to demonstrate their interventions have actually delivered better outcomes.  The programme outcomes would be reported to Louise Casey, the “troubled families” Tsar.

Communities and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles added: “120,000 families are a big problem for this country. If you live near one, you know very well who they are. And local services like police, health and schools also know who they are, because they spend a disproportionate amount of time and money dealing with them.”
Graham Allen MP welcomed the Government’s announcement of increased funding to support disadvantaged and vulnerable families in local communities and their commitment to social recovery in Britain but said Early Intervention is the final missing piece to complete this complicated jigsaw.

Graham said: ‘Only if the additional funds of around £450 million are  spent on proven evidence based policies will it maximise its impact.  ‘The Early Intervention rhetoric  needs to be backed up by rigorous practise too, that’s why I am delighted that the New Troubled Families Team is  headed by Louise Casey CB,who is a strong advocate of hard assessment of outcomes. Tackling the root causes of problems rather than continuing the culture of late intervention is vital.

The MP went on to say “Reducing negative behaviours such as school absence, reduced anti-social behaviour and increased parental employment is essential but can only happen when every baby, child and young person has the social and emotional skills  to make choices, so  we need programmes surrounding these difficult families that encourage pro-social development. These programmes are listed in my two reports for HMG on early intervention  and include ,nurse family partnership –intensive health visiting –for every teen mum.

Graham also welcomed the plans to offer up to 40 per cent of the cost of dealing with families to local authorities and the intention to utilise payment-by-results contracts. He stated: ’Money is scarce ,it has to be invested wisely to produce not only the maximum sustainable impact for these families but  the biggest return for taxpayers in reducing the costs of failure .We must explore well beyond traditional government funding and put  the investment and private sectors to work too. There are a wide range of evidence-based intervention programmes that local authorities could utilize that will not only deliver significant and measurable outcomes for children and families but also significant efficiency savings. However local authorities ,charities, foundations and philanthropists need  sufficient capacity to scale up and implement these high quality programmes.’

‘This is why I have been working with the Prime Minister to establish in the new year the independent Early Intervention Foundation. The Foundation will share with everyone tailored advice on the best evidence-based programmes; best practice on scaling up programmes and implementation fidelity; the importance of sound evaluative methodologies; and also innovative, emerging methods of social funding and service contracting. The Foundation will be able to complement the broader strategic goals of improving the lives of families in local communities and is the final piece of the jigsaw for local authorities and third sector organisation.’