Transcript Troubled families – Wandsworth’s experience

Masterclass
Hot Topics in Education
Troubled Families – Where Next?
John Johnson
Assistant Director of Education & Social Services
(Education, Performance and Planning)
27th November 2014
What is FRP?
• failing to engage or make progress
with existing services
30 of the
most
challenging
families
• children subject to a CPP, on the
edge of care, or subject to care
pre-proceedings
• multiple and complex problems
throughout the family which may
cover rent arrears, ASB crime,
mental health etc.
Troubled Families 2012-15
• Troubled Families are those that have been identified as having
multi-faceted problems and causing problems to the community
around them, putting high costs on the public sector.
• For the purposes of the Programme, the Government defines
Troubled Families as households which:
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are involved with crime and anti-social behaviour (ASB);
have children not in school;
have an adult on out of work benefits;
cause high costs to the public purse.
• To be included in the Programme, a family need to meet either all
three of the national criteria (in bold above) or two of the national
criteria plus one locally defined criterion
Family Recovery Project
Family Recovery Project – launched November 2011
• New service enabled locally by:
• Clear political priority
• Shared ambition from Partners – Police, Health, JCP, Housing
Associations etc.
• Commitment of multi agency resources (cash and staff) to a
pooled “community budget”
FRP is embedded in a clear local policy context
• Aspirations Programme – raising aspirations and improving social
mobility • Physical regeneration of the most deprived estates in the
borough.
• Mentoring programme for 18-24 BME young men
• Supporting local people into jobs
• Targeted health interventions - challenge and reward local
people in adopt healthier lifestyles
Intervention intensity
Building on success – FRP into TF
By October 2014 Wandsworth was ranked:
• Ranked 1st in London for percentage of families turned round out
of all troubled families and 14th nationally.
• Ranked 1st in London for percentage of families turned round out
of all troubled families worked with so far and 18th Nationally.
What makes it work?
Outreach
workers from
all career
backgrounds
Strong
management
Shared
objectives
“Marigolds”
Co-located
multiagency
team
Payment By
Results
Outcome focussed
Governance
TURNING
ROUND LIVES
Data driven –
shared
intelligence
Expanded Programme – Post April 2015
To be eligible for the expanded programme, each family must have
displayed at least two of the following problems:• parents and children involved in crime or anti-social behaviour;
• children who have not been attending school regularly;
• children who need help;
• adults out of work or at risk of financial exclusion and young people at
risk of worklessness;
• families affected by domestic violence and abuse; and
• parents and children with a range of health problems.
NB All eligible families must include dependent children
Case Study
Family One This family comprises of Mum and Dad who are in their late 20s, three sons aged 5 – 10
years old and a daughter (4 years old). Mum and Dad are not married but have been in
a long term relationship for 14 years. Mum has disclosed since working with FRP that
she is 3 months pregnant. The family live together in a local authority property near
Wandsworth Town Centre.
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All four children have recently been placed under Child Protection by Children’s Services
for the following reasons:
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Serious injury suffered by one of the boys in the family home which involved a
fractured skull and possible brain bleed.
Concern regarding the boys school attendance.
Concerns regarding the boys travelling to school unaccompanied
A multitude of other problems exist within the family:
Dad has a history of depression and mental illness.
Both Mum and Dad do not work and have some problems with reading and writing.
High rent arrears.
Mum has a suspected history of drug abuse.
The children have outstanding immunisations and a number of minor health issues.
The children are prone to accident and injury at home.
Low level crime committed by both Mum and Dad although nothing recently.
The whole family including the wider extended family have a history of Children’s
Services involvement going back decades.
Case Study
Progress since Family Recovery Project involvement:
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All 4 children removed from Child Protection Plans as no longer deemed
necessary.
Both parents attended Strengthening Families Strengthening Communities
(SFSC) which is a parenting class once a week focusing on improving
parenting skills.
School attendance has improved for all three of the children whom attend
school, from an average of 83.6% to currently 100% attendance for all
children.
As well as the attendance improving, the children’s punctuality at school has
also improved.
This is largely attributed to the intensive support provided by the team in
creating a workable and better early morning and evening routines.
No Police call outs since project involvement (3 in the 12 months prior to the
project’s involvement)
The family has significant rent arrears from a previous address, which they
are now paying off and is reducing – reduction of £153 after 3 months.
Children’s Specialist Services closing the case.
Questions
• With the new expanded TF criteria, which new families
should be targeted?
• Are the potential short term savings and longer term
reductions in demand on public services significant?
• Have we identified the right cohorts? (next slide) Are there
others?
• What steps should we consider to take forward this
agenda?
Wider cohort of families and individuals with
‘complex dependency’?
• Those who are homeless. This could include households in temporary
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accommodation and rough sleepers.
Those that suffer from drug or alcohol addiction. (34,850 in drug
treatment in London (2010 data). More recent data shows that nationally:
109,683 clients aged 18 and over in contact with treatment due to alcohol
in 2012-13. In addition 193,575 clients nationally aged 18 and over were
in drug treatment during 2012-13.
Individuals with mental health conditions (in particular, support to
obtain and remain in employment).
Those subject to the benefit cap, who do not have clear routes out of
dependency. (12,543 capped households to date in London, which
includes at least 34,724 dependents).
Families and individuals in low pay or no pay cycles that may also have
complex needs.
Persistent adult offenders. Approx 3,636 offenders in London.
Youth Offending Team – Preventative Services