Family Focus Plus
Southwark’s Troubled Families
Programme
www.southwark.gov.uk
What is Family Focus Plus?
• Family Focus Plus (FFP) is Southwark’s Troubled Families
programme
• Nationally agreed target of improving outcomes for 1085 families in
Southwark by 2015
• aimed at families who are experiencing multiple difficulties
• Payment by Results model
• Core objectives:
– reduce youth crime and anti-social behaviour
– reduce truancy and/or exclusion from school
– reduce the number of people not in work and claiming out-of-work
benefits
www.southwark.gov.uk
Who is it for?
To be eligible families must meet at least two from A-C
A. Children excluded (permanent or 3+ fixed term), or not
on a school roll, or school attendance less than 85%, or,
attends Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) or alternative provision
or any other equivalent attendance concern
B. Anti-social behaviour (ASB) by any member of the
family, or offending by anyone under 18 in the family
C. Adult(s) in the family receiving out of work benefits
D. Any other high risk concerns, such as social care,
domestic violence, housing, health issues etc
If a family meets the FFP criteria, a tracking tool must be
completed so that they can be attached to FFP.
www.southwark.gov.uk
Eligible family examples
• Domestic violence between son and mum
• Dad receiving out of work benefit
• Complaints by neighbours re ASB
• One child less than 85% attendance
• No adult in the family working
• Children attendance between 50% and 65%
• Father in prison for crime 11 months ago
• Young son engaged in criminal gang activity
• Case open to children’s social care
• Young person receiving support from gangs
intervention
•6 year old daughter
attendance 90% however
professional concern due to
10% unauthorised absence
• 14 year old excluded due to
anti social behaviour issues
• Currently receiving support
from school SENCO
• Mum receiving out of work
benefit
• 5 year old daughter not on
school role
www.southwark.gov.uk
FFP in Southwark
• Aims to ensure a coordinated offer of support that is
family-focussed and makes a difference to outcomes
of families that meet the national criteria.
• Opportunity to think differently about how local system
supports families with the most complex needs and
ensure the outcomes of individual families improve from
the point at which they first engage with local
services.
www.southwark.gov.uk
How are services involved?
Professionals working
with families are
required to:
•
•
Attach eligible families
they are working with to the
Family Focus Plus
programme
Take on a lead
professional role to
support whole families
towards target outcomes,
where appropriate
Professionals are
supported by:
• FFP Champions –available
for each service
• Southwark’s Virtual
Professional Network
www.southwark.gov.uk
Why attach a family?
1) Attract as much funding to the borough as
possible for services to TF
2) Get intelligence on other services involved
3) Use resources to best effect
4) Develop an evidence base of what works in
supporting families with complex needs
5) Provide an opportunity to think and work
differently with families
www.southwark.gov.uk
Lead Professional Responsibilities…
FFP identifying/ tracking responsibilities:
• Attach families that meet the TF criteria (where they
have not already been attached)
• Report progress of families to the intelligence hub via
the tracking tool
• Escalation of families that are not making sufficient
progress towards expected outcomes to the identified FFP
Champion within the service.
• Informing Intelligence Hub if no longer LP, so
replacement LP can be identified/ allocated
• Gather and maintain evidence of achieving expected
outcomes
www.southwark.gov.uk
…Lead Professional Responsibilities
(cont’d)
‘LP role’ responsibilities:
Working to improve outcomes for families, including:
•
Coordinate the professional network around families
•
Hands on approach with support from others to achieve goals
Ensure there is an:
•
up-to-date family assessment (where there is no statutory
assessment a CAF should be used), where there is not, to undertake
one
•
up-to-date delivery plan and appropriate Team Around the Family
(TAF) to support families achieve the required outcomes
www.southwark.gov.uk
Family Focus Plus Virtual Professional Network:
Assertive Family Support
Family
Action
Family Lives
St Giles
Trust
Specialist
Family
Focus Team
(SFFT)
Early Help
(EH)
Children’s
Social
Care
(CSC)
Functional
Family
Therapy
(FFT)
Cr
Southwark
Works
(+ Job
Centre
Plus)
im
e
Key:
At
Ad tend
ole an
sc ce
en /
ce
Youth
Offending
Service
(YOS)
Employment
= Commissioned
service
= Statutory and
in-house provision
www.southwark.gov.uk
Specialist Family Focus Team
Structure Chart
www.southwark.gov.uk
VCS Commissioned Services
www.southwark.gov.uk
What do I do now?
Identification and attaching families:
• If you are working with a family who meet the FFP eligibility
criteria → complete a FFP Tracking Tool and submit to
ffpinfohub@southwark.gov.uk
• The intelligence hub will validate the eligibility and formally
‘attach’ the family to the program
• Information should be provided on the whole family
• Notification should be made where additional support is required
www.southwark.gov.uk
Need more details?
See Guidance for Operational Services for
further information
For any support please email:
ffpinfohub@southwark.gov.uk
Any questions?
www.southwark.gov.uk