Expansion of programme set to help troubled families

Thousands of families across Sussex have already been contacted by council officers in a bid to improve behaviour, lessen their disruptive impact on neighbourhoods and get them back into work and education since the Troubled Families project launched in 2011.

Now councils hitting their targets for “turning round” problem families hope that they will be given the green light to start working with hundreds more in the new year.

Latest figures show that 417 families in Brighton and Hove had been “turned around” out of 675 identified as needing help in the city.

The council’s conversion rate of more than 60% is higher than the regional average of 16 South East authorities, which stands at 57%.

Local authorities are paid up to £4,000 on a payment-by-results basis for turning around each troubled family.

West Sussex County Council is also exceeding the regional rate with 761 families turned around out of 1165 they have been working with.

Due to these results it has been identified as one of the best performing in the country and has been rewarded by being allowed to start the second phase of the project ahead of the rest of the country.

Work started has started in the next phase in West Sussex with 600 more families in the roll-out of a new five-year plan for the programme.

The council could eventually take on more than 4,000 extra families during this second stage.

This will move on from working with families struggling with truancy, crime and anti-social behaviour to families with a wider set of issues, including domestic violence, debt and children at risk of being taken into care. The Government estimates that troubled families cost the public sector £75,000 a year in service costs and benefits if their behaviour remains unchecked.

Hoping to join West Sussex in the next phase of the programme is Brighton and Hove City Council.

Steve Barton, the city council’s assistant director of children’s services, said the project had been a “slow burner” after it was initially criticised.

Council officers said they had decided to engage with the families with the most entrenched problems and which had the biggest impact on society.

Mr Barton said that all the families they had worked with had “complex problems” and “real challenges”.

He said while they were chosen for the programme because of identified problems such as school exclusion, antisocial behaviour and unemployment, they had underlying problems as well, such as mental health issues and substance misuse.

In the most challenging of cases, the city council has been working with health and social care charity CRI.

Mr Barton said that the council had rebranded the Troubled Families programme locally so as not to alienate the families they were attempting to work with.

He said: “Like a lot of local authorities, while the national programme is called Troubled Families, we have renamed our programme Stronger Families Stronger Communities because we didn’t want to get into labelling people.

“We had a very low rate of families that don’t want to work with us.

“It is very rare to have a door slammed in our faces.

“It’s a case of explaining that you don’t have to engage with this programme but if these issues continue there will be consequences.

“If your child is not attending school then that’s going to be a problem. If your older son is involved in antisocial behaviour then that’s going to be a problem.”

Programme extension City council chiefs are hopeful they will be selected in January for the roll out of what is being called TF2.

This could see them working with hundreds more families every year.

The extension to a five-year programme until 2020 will be subject to the election next year and a spending review decision.

Mr Barton said: “The new programme will be working with families with a broader range of issues such as mental health and domestic violence.

“We expect to work with more families especially as the pay by result will be lower for the second phase.

“We think we are talking in the range of 450 to 500 families each year.

“We are very optimistic we will be selected for that early stage in January.”

Earlier this month, West Sussex County Council gave the go-ahead to extend the scheme, for 2015/16 and “in principle” support to continue the programme, renamed under them as Think Family, until 2020.

West Sussex’s version of the programme has seen the local authority work with Sussex Police, district and borough councils, health organisations, job centres and commercial and charitable care agencies.

The authority will open up the second phase initially with more than 600 families and have received more than £100,000 from the Government to get the new phase rolling.

Over the next five years, the council aims to work with twice as many families a year than it currently does.

For each family the council works with they will receive £1,000 and a further £800 for each family successfully “turned around”.

The first phase of the programme is estimated to have cost West Sussex £2.8 million by the time it officially ends in March next year as well as £4.2 million from the Department of Local Government and Communities and £700,000 from partner agencies.

The cost of the programme in 2015/16 is expected to rise to £5 million with £1.2 million offset in Government payments.

Councillor Peter Evans, cabinet member for children, said: “This project really is turning people’s lives around and helping families on so many levels.

“Not only is West Sussex the best area in the country for getting people back into employment under the Think Family scheme but it’s also thought to be the only area to be using a neighbourhood approach.

“This is a really successful approach where we work collectively with people living in certain areas to empower them to make positive changes for themselves.”

Recent figures also show that Eastm Sussex County Council is trailing behind their regional counterparts with 390 of the 1,015 families identified for help “turned around” – the equivalent of 38% of families worked with.

But the council said they were still hopeful of being included in the early roll-out of the next phase and had now increased the number of families it was working with since the latest Government figures had been published.

An East Sussex County Council spokesman said: “The Troubled Families programme enables us to work intensively with families for an extended period of time to help them overcome their problems.

“Achieving and sustaining change can take time, and the figures earlier this week reflect our position several months ago.

“We are pleased to say that we are now working with 1,074 families, which is more than our target number of 1,015.

“We have turned around 710 families, which is 70 per cent of our target number.

“As a sign of our commitment to this way of working, we also offer similar support to many other families with multiple problems who are not eligible for the Troubled Families programme.

“We hope our recent success will help us to join the expanded scheme as an ‘early starter’ area, as we remain committed to the ongoing development of our services to provide whole-family support.

“We have yet to receive full details of the expanded programme but welcome the Government’s decision to extend the criteria to enable us to reach more families in need.”

Reflecting on the success of the programme nationwide, communities minister Eric Pickles said: “The Troubled Families programme demonstrates exactly what our long-termeconomic plan means for people.

“New opportunities for families to turn their lives around and make something of themselves, more economic security for local communities blighted by worklessness and more economic stability for taxpayers, as we reduce the bills for social failure and get this country living within its means.

“It’s a triple win, an amazing programme, and we’re going to extend its reach as far as possible.”

Brighton and Hove City Council case study:

15-year-old Craig was referred to the programme due to his poor attendance at school and when a family keyworker attended to meet the family it was obvious there were other issues affecting his attendance.

His 18-year-old brother, Aaron, had been diagnosed with agoraphobia and only left the house with his mother, Julie, either early in the morning or when it was dark, and would never leave the car.

Craig said that he could not see why he should go to school when his brother was not doing anything and so spent nearly all his time at home with his mother.

It took nearly six weeks before Aaron was able to have a conversation with the keyworker, when it became clear that he really wanted to go out on his own, but was terrified he would get hurt.

Gradually, with the help he received, he managed to venture out via small steps, to the point where he was able to attend a group where he could meet other young people.

Finally, he started a course at college, where he has made lots of new friends and is now a confident young man, able to go out on his own and socialise.

When Craig saw his brother was starting to go out, his attendance at school drastically improved, attending all week instead of just a few days, which also meant Julie could have some time to herself for the first time in more than four years.

Julie says the support her family received has not only brought about a dramatic transformation in her sons but has also helped her to overcome the feelings of depression, stress and isolation she felt previously and she now feels much happier and more able to cope independently.
 

East Sussex County Council case study:

Alan and his wife have an autistic boy aged 10, a girl aged 11 and a teenage boy.

The youngest, who was only recently diagnosed with autism, had been violent at school towards teachers and other children and was facing exclusion from school. He had also been aggressive to his mother.

In his most extreme moments, the parents would have to hold him down on the floor for two hours because he was head-butting, punching and spitting.

Their daughter had difficulty managing her emotions, which meant disagreements became arguments and could lead to uncontrolled shouting.

This in turn led to relationship difficulties with many friendships breaking down, adding to her emotional problems.

Alan said: “It was really difficult and we didn’t know where to turn to for help.

“The violence was upsetting for the whole family and especially my wife who bore the brunt of it.

“We were at the end of our tether and didn’t know where to turn.

“Rosie from the Stronger Families team helped us make contact with all the right local groups for support and advice. Two years later our lives are unrecognisable.

“My boy has been diagnosed with autism, is in special school and has joined a boxing gym so I would say his violence has gone from ten to almost zero.

“My daughter gets counselling and is much better at controlling her emotions so she is also making and keeping friends, which is fantastic.

“I can’t speak highly enough of Rosie and the team who have helped turn our lives around.”