Cherilyn Mackrory, Member of Parliament for Truro and Falmouth, has welcomed the news that Cornwall Council has secured an additional £1,638,600 funding to help families who live with deep-rooted problems.
The funding, announced this week by Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Robert Jenrick MP, will provide intensive support for some of the most vulnerable families, including those affected by unemployment, poor school attendance, mental health problems, anti-social behaviour and domestic abuse.
Working with the whole family unit across local services, with a focus on early intervention, the programme has a proven track record of driving reforms across public services. Rather than responding to each problem, or single family member separately, assigned Troubled Families keyworkers (under the Together for Families umbrella in Cornwall) engage with the whole family. Through this approach they coordinate support from a range of services to identify and address family problems as early as possible rather than merely reacting to crises.
Since the current programme began in 2015, across the UK, 297,733 families have made improvements with the problems that led to them joining the programme. In 26,848 of these families one or more adults have moved off benefits and into work.
Cherilyn Mackrory MP said:
"I am absolutely delighted to see this additional funding for the Together for Families programme in Cornwall confirmed by the Secretary of State."
"During my time on Cornwall Council I saw how this funding was able to get some really positive outcomes with families who might otherwise have fallen through the net, and I look forward to working with the excellent Together for Families team to ensure this latest funding is delivered promptly to continue these results."
The latest national evaluation results show that, compared to families with similar characteristics who have not been on the programme, 19-24 months after starting to receive support:
- the proportion of children on the programme going into care has reduced by a third;
- the proportion of adults on the programme going to prison has reduced by a quarter and juvenile convictions reduced by 15%; and
- more people on the programme are back in work, with 11% fewer people claiming Jobseekers Allowance.