The Government is committing a further 200m to its Troubled Families programme to help 400,000 more families with multiple and complex social, health and economic problems
The £200m funding for 2015/16 to extend the programme to help more ‘high-risk’ families will be announced by the Government during tomorrow’s (Wednesday) Spending Round.
A payment by results initiative, the Troubled Families Programme, administered by the Department for Communities and Local Government, aims to end criminality, get children back into school and parents ready to work.
The extra investment will be used to create new incentives for local services such as the police, health and social services to work more closely together in order to reduce costs and improve outcomes for families.
The Government will provide 40 per cent of the extra funding needed to extend the scheme with contributions from five departments, Communities and Local Government, Education, Health, Justice and Work and pensions.
The other 60 per cent of funding will be covered by local authorities and local partners who will benefit from the savings made by the programme.
According to the Government, the Troubled Families programme is on track to turn around the lives of 120,000 families by 2015 and reduce the burden they put on the taxpayer.
Louise Casey, head of the troubled Families programme (pictured), said, ‘It is great news that the momentum we have built up on the Troubled Families programme can continue by extending the approach to a wider group of families, who, for example, are struggling with health problems or parenting, where their children are not in school or are at risk of being taken into care.
‘This new programme will enable us to help earlier in families’ lives to change them for the better.’
Commenting on the extension of the Troubled Families programme, Anne Longfield, chief executive of 4Children, said, ‘The announcement of a further £200m to fund work with Britain’s most troubled families is welcome news, particularly for those of us that champion the benefits of early intervention. Until now the programme was only able to provide life-changing support to families that were already in deep crisis.
'However, to make the most of this new investment it is absolutely vital that the Troubled Families programme works together with other family support services like children’s centres to ensure an integrated and seamless approach.
‘With families across Britain struggling to make ends meet and to give their children the opportunities they deserve, we call on Government to put families at the heart of its narrative and ensure that on Wednesday families feel they are heading towards a happy ending not a tragedy.’
A payment by results initiative, the Troubled Families Programme, administered by the Department for Communities and Local Government, aims to end criminality, get children back into school and parents ready to work.
The extra investment will be used to create new incentives for local services such as the police, health and social services to work more closely together in order to reduce costs and improve outcomes for families.
The Government will provide 40 per cent of the extra funding needed to extend the scheme with contributions from five departments, Communities and Local Government, Education, Health, Justice and Work and pensions.
The other 60 per cent of funding will be covered by local authorities and local partners who will benefit from the savings made by the programme.
According to the Government, the Troubled Families programme is on track to turn around the lives of 120,000 families by 2015 and reduce the burden they put on the taxpayer.
Louise Casey, head of the troubled Families programme (pictured), said, ‘It is great news that the momentum we have built up on the Troubled Families programme can continue by extending the approach to a wider group of families, who, for example, are struggling with health problems or parenting, where their children are not in school or are at risk of being taken into care.‘This new programme will enable us to help earlier in families’ lives to change them for the better.’
Commenting on the extension of the Troubled Families programme, Anne Longfield, chief executive of 4Children, said, ‘The announcement of a further £200m to fund work with Britain’s most troubled families is welcome news, particularly for those of us that champion the benefits of early intervention. Until now the programme was only able to provide life-changing support to families that were already in deep crisis.
'However, to make the most of this new investment it is absolutely vital that the Troubled Families programme works together with other family support services like children’s centres to ensure an integrated and seamless approach.
‘With families across Britain struggling to make ends meet and to give their children the opportunities they deserve, we call on Government to put families at the heart of its narrative and ensure that on Wednesday families feel they are heading towards a happy ending not a tragedy.’