Issue - meetings

To receive an update in respect of the Family Focus programme.

The Panel considered the report on the Phase 2 of the Family Focus programme.

Karen Frost gave an update on the Family Focus programme. Phase 1 had run for three years and had completed in March 2015. Bracknell Forest officers had worked with 115 families in Phase 1, and the targets for these families had been met. The Bracknell Forest programme had been recognised as one of the best performing programmes in the country, and the team had been invited to work with the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) on the new programme for Phase 2.

The new programme would be a five year programme to focus on a minimum of 380 families in the Borough.  The criteria considered when assisting the families would be broader, and would include a holistic approach to tackling domestic abuse, mental health needs, substance abuse, poverty, debt and housing issues. All referrals to the programme would be assigned an allocated key worker through the Early Intervention Hub. Every family would develop an Outcome Plan, and the focus was on working alongside the family.

The success of the programme would be measured by a National Impact Study with the DCLG who would process the details of all families who agreed to their details being shared.