APPG for Strengthening Couple Relationships 20022017 Sarah Kincaid

APPG for Strengthening Couple Relationships 20/02/2017 Sarah Kincaid Troubled Families Team Department of Communities and Local Government 1

Original Troubled Families Programme (2012 -15)

Original Troubled Families Programme (2012 -15) • Only 1 of 6 strands of evaluation • Innovative, quasi-experimental • Couldn’t isolate impact achieved • ‘major limitations’ with data quality • Early and narrow period of measurement • Comparison group – hard to match, potential contamination

Original Troubled Families Programme (2012 -15): • 116 k troubled families achieved the positive outcomes that met programme’s objectives • “widespread evidence of improvements in services for families with the programme enabling areas to scale-up their family intervention provision, provision drive innovation in working with families, stimulate multi-agency working, working and begin to mainstream wholefamily working. ” working • “Helped identify families who’d otherwise have ‘slipped through the net’” net • “Enabled key workers to: get to the roots of deeply entrenched problems; problems understand the whole family more effectively; effectively take an assertive and practical approach; approach and to be more outcomes focused. ” focused • Families were more likely to say they were “in control of their lives” and knew “how to keep on the right track”. track They were more likely to say they were “confident their worst problems behind them” them and were “feeling positive about the future”. future • Three quarters (76 per cent) of families felt that the difference the key worker had made to their families’ lives was ‘much more’ (58 per cent) or ‘slightly more’ (18 per cent) than that made by previous support.

The new Troubled Families Programme (2015 -20) For Families • To achieve significant and sustained progress with up to 400, 000 families with multiple, high cost problems by 2020; For Services • To transform the way that public services work with families with multiple problems to take an integrated whole family approach For the Taxpayer • To demonstrate that this way of working results in lower costs and savings for the tax payer. Six headline problems Crime and anti social behaviour Children who need help Worklessness and financial exclusion Poor school attendance Domestic violence and abuse Every troubled family has at least 2 problems to be eligible Mental and physical health problems

6 Our ask • prioritise the families with multiple problems who are of most concern and highest reactive costs • appoint a keyworker/lead worker for each family who manages the family and their problems. • work towards agreed goals for every family for each of the headline problems which are shared and jointly owned across local partners • are transparent about outcomes, benefits and costs • engage in ongoing service reform according to evidence of effectiveness and savings

Relationships: the role of a Troubled Families keyworker • A dedicated key worker considers the problems of family as a whole – they organise services to grip the family’s problems, and work with the family in a persistent and assertive way towards an agreed improvement plan • Through understanding the needs of the family, the keyworker can support them to access targeted services within their locality. This could include targeted support for couples, for example through mediation services. • Part of the role of the keyworker is to support parents and couples make the right choices for them and their families and help stabilise the family environment • Much of the work that key workers do with troubled families is focussed on improving parenting skills and the way that a family functions 7

8 Looking ahead EVIDENCE BASE TROUBLED FAMILIES PROGRAMME OPPORTUNITIES