The funding for the Troubled Families programme will
provide intensive support for some of the most vulnerable
families.
Working with the whole family unit across local services,
with a focus on early intervention, the programme has a
proven track record of driving reforms across public
services.
The funding will be used to tackle complex
inter-connected problems including unemployment,
poor school attendance, mental health issues, anti-social
behaviour and domestic abuse.
Communities Secretary Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP
said:
The Troubled Families programme will help more people
in need get access to the early, practical and
coordinated support to transform their lives for the
better.
This is the right thing to do for families and
for society as a whole, and these reforms
will reduce the demand and dependency on costly,
reactive key public services.
We want to build on the success of the programme in the
coming year, delivering on our manifesto commitment to
ensure we reach all those who could benefit from the
programme – from the early years and throughout their
lives.
Rather than responding to each problem, or single family
member separately, assigned Troubled Families keyworkers
engage with the whole family. Through this approach, they
coordinate support from a range of services to identify
and address family issues as early as possible rather
than merely reacting to crises.
The latest evaluation results show that, compared to
families with similar characteristics who have not been
on the programme, 19-24 months after starting to receive
support:
-
the proportion of children on the programme going
into care has reduced by a third
-
the proportion of adults on the programme going to
prison has reduced by a quarter and juvenile
convictions reduced by 15%
-
more people on the programme are back in work, with
10% fewer people claiming Jobseekers Allowance.
The programme was originally set to run for 5 years from
2015 to 2020 but was extended by a year in Spending Round
2019. Today £165 million of funding has been
confirmed for 2020 to 2021.
Since the current programme began in
2015, 297,733 families have made improvements
with the problems that led to them joining
the programme. In 26,848 of these families one
or more adults has moved off benefits and into
work.
The current Troubled Families Programme was rolled out in
England in April 2015 and replaced the first programme
which had been in place since 2012.
The third annual report of the current Troubled Families
Programme annual report Building Resilient
Families is available.
