Liverpool is the top performing city in helping troubled families turn around their lives, new figures show.
Troubled families are “those that have problems and cause problems to the community around them, putting high costs on the public sector” and the government introduced a programme in 2011 to work with councils to help them change their lives.
The programme includes getting children into regular school attendance; reducing youth crime and anti-social behavior; helping adults back into work and cutting the high costs these families put on the public sector.
The latest figures show that
• In Liverpool, where 2105 families have been identified as being troubled, 1185 have had their lives turned around based on statistics for crime, anti-social behavior and education – the highest number in the UK by volume
• Based on rates per 1000 population Liverpool had the highest figure (2.54) of all the major cities for turning troubled families’ lives around
• Liverpool came top for families achieving continued employment.
The city’s success has been achieved through the strength of its partnership working supported by a Families Programme Governance Group, chaired by the city council. A new Schools Family Support service has been created and the Family Intervention Programme enhanced.
The Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, said: “Troubled families not only have difficulties for themselves but can cause real problems for the communities in which they live so it is very good news that we have helped so many change their lived.
“Liverpool is giving a lead in this area.
“We try and help families change their lives by coordinating services to work with them rather than the approach of ‘doing things’ to them or for them.
“We need to look at families’ problems in the round rather than dealing with individual issues. For example, a child’s poor school attendance may be related to a parent’s drink problems and we have to tackle those in a coordinated manner.
“And we are trying to avoid duplication and have streamlined services using information from different partners for more effective targeting of issues.
“Working closely with the DWP has meant more families have found work and become more confident in getting back into work, volunteering and training.
“The results of this work is reflected in the latest figures – however, we are not complacent and recognise that we need to continue with this progress to help more families turn their lives around.”