National evaluation hails positive impact of Troubled Families Programme

The Troubled Families Programme has reduced the proportion of children going into care, adults claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance and juvenile convictions, an evaluation has suggested.

The programme is designed to support families with complex, interconnected problems such as anti-social behaviour, mental health problems or domestic violence.

Rather than responding to each problem, or single family member separately, assigned keyworkers engage with the whole family. Support is coordinated from a range of services to identify and address family issues as early as possible rather than merely reacting to crises.

Evidence from the National Evaluation of the Troubled Families Programme found that, when compared to a similar control group, the programme of targeted intervention was found to have:

• reduced the proportion of children on the programme going into care by a third;
• reduced the proportion of adults on the programme going to prison by a quarter and juvenile convictions by 15%;
• supported more people on the programme back in work with 10% fewer people claiming Jobseekers Allowance.

Communities Secretary James Brokenshire said: “We all need support and commitment to achieve our full potential. We’re all the product of other people’s kindness. That starts with stronger families – as the cornerstone of stronger communities – and this is the driving spirit of the Troubled Families programme.

“Fresh thinking is needed now more than ever to meet the challenges we face – like knife crime and gang culture. This programme is proving it has a valuable role to play as we look forwards to the upcoming Spending Review.

“It’s inspiring to see agencies working better together to help people succeed but the real story is the thousands of people who’ve taken control of their own lives. People are being helped to help themselves.”

Dame Louise Casey, who was director general of the programme from 2011 to 2015, said: “Since 2012, the first and current Troubled Families Programmes have – very deliberately - shaken up the way families with complex problems are supported, ensuring they are identified earlier to get the help they need, which is completely focused on helping families live better lives.

“Helping families to help themselves so their kids are not taken into care or family members ending up in prison and getting more people from the programme into work is testament to what frontline staff can do with the right resources and backing.

“This evaluation shows it was absolutely right to have invested so much in this approach since 2012.”

Since the current programme began in 2015, local authorities and their partners have worked with over 400,000 eligible families.

This compares with only 2,000 families who had received whole family support in England between January 2006 and March 2010, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said.

It added that services and professionals were now better connected and working in partnership as a result of the scheme. “Rather than circling around families with multiple and separate assessments and appointments, local authorities are using the programme to work across organisational and cultural boundaries to achieve better lives for the families in need.”

The Ministry said the Secretary of State was committed to improving the programme further, including asking whether Troubled Families was the best name and whether it should be changed “to better reflect its positive and supportive ethos and to deepen the engagement for the work”.

Last month, a £9.5m fund was made available within the existing programme, which will focus on supporting children and families vulnerable to knife crime and gang culture – with a further £300,000 available to train frontline staff on how to tackle childhood trauma. The money has gone to community-backed projects in 21 areas across England.