More funding for Council’s work with complex families

 

Cheshire East Council has secured a second phase of funding thanks to its success in working with complex families.

The Council has successfully transformed the lives of 585 families through support and intervention measures aimed at overcoming problems and challenges that have held them back.

The Cheshire East programme, known as Family Focus, has brought about a significant reduction in youth crime and anti-social behaviour,  improved school attendance and assisted many adults into employment.

Louise Casey, the Government’s ‘Troubled Families’ Tzar met members of the various teams together with Council Leader Michael Jones during a recent visit and praised the council for its achievements.

The Troubled Families programme was announced in 2012 with a national target of getting 120,000 families out of poverty, crime and other social and family issues that impact on their lives.

The Cheshire East Family Focus team will now receive more funding to roll out a second phase of the programme, which is partly funded on a results basis and partly through grants.

The Council expects to assist nearly two thousand families by 2020, and will continue its work with the police, DWP, health Services, social services, schools and social and private landlords. 

Council Leader Michael Jones said: “Supporting people into work, steering them away from crime and helping them to be less dependent on benefits has to be good for them and for our residents.

“We are delighted that Louise Casey has shown faith in us to continue this programme.

“After I was re-elected in May, I said publicly that I wanted to do more to tackle the adverse impact of social pressures and chaotic family life on young people.

“Too many of our young people are carrying dark thoughts of self-harm triggered by low self-esteem and the Cheshire East family service programme that we have developed has made great strides in restoring proper life balances to so many people.

“But the work does not end here!”

In March, the Department for Communities and Local Government announced that since 2012 the Troubled Families programme had helped more than 105,600 families that had benefitted from the support they received from local authorities and the net saving to the taxpayer was in the order of £1.2billion. 

The programme is aimed at benefitting families that meet a number of criteria including lack of employment, domestic abuse, crime and anti-social behaviour, poor school attendance and children known to various agencies delivering early help services and social care.