24.07.14
No silver bullet for addressing troubled families’ issue
On average troubled families – which are being helped by local authorities to turn their lives around – suffer from nine different serious problems, according to a new independent report from the government’s Troubled Families programme.
In particular it highlighted that many families have significant problems with truancy, youth crime, anti-social behaviour and worklessness. However, it also showed that there was no silver bullet for tackling this issue.
Louise Casey, head of the government’s Troubled Families programme, said: “This report paints a picture of families sinking under the weight of multiple problems and is an illustration of why we can’t treat the individual problems of individual members of a complex family in isolation.”
Earlier this month the secretary of state for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles, announced that almost 52,833 troubled families had had their lives turned around since the government’s programme began in April 2012. He added that the programme will be rolled out even “further and faster” and will start work with up to 40,000 additional families this year.
Whether or not this issue needs the “hands on, tough love approach” Pickles has advocated is up for debate. But what is for certain is that it is an issue we can’t ignore.
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