Troubled Families Evaluation

James Brokenshire Excerpts

Tuesday 19th March 2019 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (James Brokenshire)]

Today I am pleased to announce publication of the latest Troubled Families programme national evaluation reports. The programme 2015-20 aims to improve outcomes for families and reform services. The national evaluation looks at how well the programme is achieving those aims. The reports published today provide the most significant evidence to date, bringing together findings from the latest analysis of national and local datasets, a cost-benefit analysis, case study research and staff survey research.

The latest evidence is encouraging. While many families continue to face challenges, which is to be expected given the complexity of needs of families on the programme, this evidence shows that the programme is improving outcomes for families across a number of measures. When comparing families on the programme with a matched comparison group, analysis indicates that the programme has had a positive impact, reducing the proportion of:

Looked after children by 32%

Adults going to prison by 25%

Juvenile convictions by 15%

Juveniles going to custody by 38%

Jobseeker’s allowance claimants by 10%

In addition, 20,000 families on the programme include one or more adults who have moved into work. The evaluation results also suggest local services are being reformed and the programme has been successful in driving this change.

The Troubled Families programme supports families with complex, interconnected problems such as antisocial behaviour, mental health problems or domestic abuse. Rather than responding to each problem, or single family member separately, assigned Troubled Families keyworkers engage with the whole family. Through this approach they co-ordinate support from a range of services to identify and address family issues as early as possible rather than merely reacting to crises. The full set of national evaluation reports published today together with an evaluation overview policy report can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-evaluation-of-the-troubled-families-programme-2015-to-2020-findings.

[HCWS1430]