Issue - items at meetings - Troubled Families Initiative

48.1         Mat Thomas from the Stronger Families, Stronger Communities (SFSC) Team presented the report. The SFSC Team was Brighton & Hove City Council’s approach to central Government’s Troubled Families agenda.

48.2         Brighton & Hove City Council has been asked to turn around 675 families in the city, to make them more able to cope. The approach is a ‘Payment by Results’ one, which gives local authorities a percentage payment for engaging families and producing results, which is split in different ways over the three year life of the programme.

48.3         The service is delivered by Family Coaches, who can spend up to 10 hours per week with a family. Coaches have a very small caseload, with no more than five families per coach, and they deliver a very intensive service. There are 24 FTE staff and a partnership board.

48.4         The family doesn’t necessarily need to have a young person in it to qualify for intervention, there are certain criteria that are looked for: school attendance below 85%, anti social behaviour or youth offending, and or a history of worklessness.

The family must have two out of three of the above criteria to be eligible; many will have all three.

48.5         In order to receive Payment by Results, strict results need to be achieved, for example, all children in the family must have an over 85% school attendance for three terms, or anti social behaviour should be reduced by at least 60%.

48.6         Questions and comments included:

Ø      How does the approach differ from the family intervention project work?

The team works with the whole family, targeting specific areas as needed. The team is trying to work with slightly less priority cases in order to address their behaviour before it escalates. The Family Coach agrees the approach with the family, eg discussing what is reasonable and sharing outcomes.

Ø      How are families identified?

There are a number of ways, mainly through professionals identifying eg the school or social worker. The team then holds a team meeting to decide which families to take forward.

48.7    The Chair thanked Mr Thomas for his presentation and asked for an update in six months or so, with a cost benefit analysis. This was agreed.