Agenda item

To provide an update on the Council’s progress and successful delivery of Phase 1 the Family Focus Programme (known nationally as the Troubled Families programme), and proposals being made in respect of delivering Phase 2 of the programme.

Karen Frost, Head of Prevention and Early Intervention, gave an update on the Council’s progress and successful delivery of Phase 1 the Family Focus Programme (known nationally as the Troubled Families programme), and proposals being made in respect of delivering Phase 2 of the programme.

Phase 1 of Troubled Families was a three year programme that commenced in 2012, part funded by the government on a payment by results basis.  The programme aimed to improve outcomes for those children and families with complex needs.  In addition, the programme was expected to lower costs and reduce future expenditure by lowering dependency on Council funded services.

The key aim of the Bracknell Forest Council (BFC) programme was to avoid families progressing to requiring high cost, statutory children’s social care services and providing ongoing support to those families that can be stepped down.  In this respect, the programme has been very successful.  BFC had been working on the original programme since January 2012.  Its key objectives were to:

·         Improve timely access to holistic support for families with complex and multiple problems;

·         Ensure a clear process to get the right level of support for families;

·         Improve the range and quality of services for families;

·         Ensure improved transition at each key stage in a child’s/young person’s life;

·         Drive systemic change.

BFC had achieved a 100% success rate (115 families). These cases had now been closed, however the key workers would maintain contact via monthly telephone calls, where appropriate, to ensure that they did not re-enter the system and incur ongoing costs.

98 of the 115 families (85.3%) successfully improved the sustainable attendance and behaviour at school of their children/young people.  Young people within 17 of the 115 (14.7%) families entered the workplace.  This would directly impact on school stats for NEET young people and raise aspirations of young people living with parents who would previously have been receiving out of work benefits.

For Phase 2, which will run from 2015, the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has estimated that the total number of families eligible in BFC for inclusion in the five year expanded programme is approximately 380, a significant increase on previous targets.

During Phase 2, the DCLG will be focusing on the following:

·         The development of an independent national evaluation for the expanded Troubled Families Programme;

·         The completion and continued improvement of the Troubled Families online cost savings calculator;

·         The design and implementation of a new system of Family Progress Data;

·         The refinement of the indicators suggested to identify families and the development of best practice approaches to measuring significant and sustained progress with families;

·         The design of the ‘spot check’ process for results and engagement of local authority Internal Auditors in the approval of local results claims; 

·         The introduction of a model of transparent local accountability for the success of the programme as a tool to drive greater service transformation, using streamline data collection tools.

The Council received £0.6m grant funding for Phase 1 and estimates to receive around £1.452m for Phase 2.

The Forum noted:

1. The progress and success of Phase 1 of the programme;
2. The progression into Phase 2 of the potentially longer, five year programme, on the proposed basis set out in the body of the report;
3. The outline budget plan as set out in Annex 2.