Schools Forum
Agenda Item 8
Date: 13th February 2013
REPORT TITLE: Family Solutions 2013-15 (Families with Complex Needs)
Report by Alastair Gibbons
Contact details: Telephone: 07786 125 363
e-mail: alastair.gibbons@essex.gov.uk
1. Purpose of report
1.1 This report requests that Schools Forum continue to contribute to targeted
early intervention services through redirecting a portion of its Early Help
funding to Family Solutions for 2013/14 and 2014/15 to support a much
improved targeted early help offer for children and their families and to pave
the way for expected savings in future years.
2. Recommendations
2.1 That Schools Forum agree to redirect £757k of current base budget
allocation for 2013/14 and 2014/15 to the new Family Solutions service and
to receive regular reports on the effectiveness and efficiency of the
programme.
3. Relevance to Strategic Plans
3.1 As part of the whole Essex community budget programme, a programme to
provide a countywide information, advice and guidance service, eight family
solutions multi-agency teams (including a schools link worker with an
education background in each team) and a volunteer programme has been
developed. This programme is called Family Solutions and incorporates the
Government’s Troubled Families initiative in Essex.
3.2 For
background,
the
full
business
http://www.wecb.org.uk/final-documents
case
is
available
at:
3.3 Four Family Solutions Teams have just been established in each quadrant,
and there will be a further four (two per quadrant) by October 2013. The
teams will be multi-disciplinary with staff from a range of backgrounds
including Education, drugs and alcohol, adult mental health, youth work,
CAMHS and social work. By summer 2013 there will be an information,
advice and guidance hub and at this point the current multi-agency
allocation groups (MAAGs) will end. The hub will offer information, advice
and guidance to all schools, replacing CAFPoint and MAAGS referrals. The
hub will also be the point of referral of any child into the Family Solutions
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team for that area. The hub and the teams will enable schools to reduce the
numbers of CAFs and lead professional roles that they undertake.
3.4 The Family Solutions programme will be Essex’s targeted early help offer as
recommended by the Munro Review of Child Protection report 2011. There
has been wide consultation on new guidance and a new windscreen on
need as set out in ‘Effective Support for Children and Families in Essex’
which will be ratified by the Essex Safeguarding Children Board in March.
3.5 Family Solutions is designed to provide a long-term sustainable model of
intervention with families that reduces high end reactive costs such as
special school placement, school exclusion, the use of pupil referral units
and other alternative education provision. Family Solutions will work with
families where there are significant school attendance and child behaviour
problems beyond which schools can reasonably be expected to address. In
addressing these problems in a family centred way and engaging with
parents, the service will enable children referred to improve their
participation, concentration and attainment at school. Each team will work
with up to 180 families a year, through a key worker approach. Families will
remain in the programme between three months and a year. A family and
professional progress evaluation system will help measure progress on
agreed changes throughout participation in the programme.
3.6
All schools have a responsibility to provide early help and work with other
agencies to address the child’s additional needs as soon as these arise.
Family Solutions will provide a service to schools where the child’s needs
are greater than they can be expected to deal with.
4. Finance Implications
The table below summarises the programme for 2012/13 and the next 2
years:
2012-13
Year 0
£000
2013-14
Year 1
£000
2014-15
Year 2
£000
Total Capital & Revenue
Investment
173
3,440
5,310
Total Opportunity Costs
(56)
(1,856)
(3,757)
Total New Investment
117
1,583
1,552
Of the new investment a contribution from Schools Forum for 2013/14 and
2014/15 has been identified as £757k. It is proposed that this will be
funded by redirecting budget which currently is used on early intervention
work with children through the MAAGs process and integrated workforce
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development. This funding was previously for ‘narrowing the gap’, for
‘extended services’ and for workforce development and training.
It should be noted that the new investment is already net of opportunity
costs which have been identified through re-directing existing staff
resource and partner in kind contributions. Discussions are on-going to
fund the residual balance. The new investment is also net of funding
available through the Government’s Troubled Families Programme.
The funding will be used in a more focused and targeted way as a
contribution to the overall staffing and resourcing of the Family Solutions
teams so that they are able to respond effectively to referrals from
schools.
If the programme is successful, continued funding will be sought at a
similar level in 2015/16 and beyond.
5. Benefits
The Programme in total
A benefit realisation matrix for the total Family Solutions has been undertaken
which sets out at a very high level some of the financial and non-financial
benefits that can be directly attributed to this programme. The total programme
cashable benefits are estimated as £41m cumulatively by 2022:
FCN - Actual Cost Benefit Analysis - Summary
2012-13
2013-14
2014-15
2015-16
2016-17
2017-18
2018-19
2019-20
2020-21
2021-22
Total
£000
£000
£000
£000
£000
£000
£000
£000
£000
£000
£000
Cashable Benefit
Revised Operating Investment
0
117
0
1,583
(2,627)
1,552
(7,636)
1,850
(8,723)
2,739
(8,792)
2,744
(8,696)
1,372
(4,479)
0
(254)
0
(33)
0
(41,240)
11,958
Programme New Investment & Net
Cashable Benefit
117
1,583
(1,074)
(5,786)
(5,984)
(6,048)
(7,324)
(4,479)
(254)
(33)
(29,282)
Total Opportunity Costs
(56)
(1,856)
(3,757)
(3,589)
(2,705)
(2,705)
(1,353)
0
0
0
(16,022)
Income / Expenditure Summary
Description
Specifically for Schools Forum
In total, of these accrued benefits, £9.4m are aligned to budgets for the overall
schools budget.
Benefits have been modelled to the schools budget as a result of the Family
Solutions Programme and these include reduced exclusions, reduced use of
PRU and external school placements and some reduction in SEN placements
outside mainstream schools, as well as overall improved attainment for children
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of families going through the programme. These benefits will free up DSG
resources in future years.
Families where children exhibit significant behavioural difficulties
D
Assumptions: Average 2.19 children per
f
Educ - Behaviour Support
household, 83% aged 5 to 19 and 70% display
E
behaviour concerns
Total
Total Accrued
Programme Benefit
£
Families with significant (>20 per cent absenteeism in the last 3 terms) non-school attendance (for
whatever reason)
C
Assumptions: Average 2.19 children per
L
Educ - Education Welfare
household, 68% of which are school age and
G
50% has persistent absence
-D
Assumptions: Average 2.19 children per
f
Alternative Education Support (BESD only)
household, 68% of which are school age and
E
40% require Alternative Education Support
D
Assumptions: Average 2.19 children per
f
Children Support Service (Incl PRU's)
household, 68% of which are school age and
E
20% are not in mainstream Education
-
Total Benefits
2014/15 £
Programme Entry
Criteria
Current Service
Funding Dept
The table below outlines the areas where benefits have been specifically aligned
to schools from 2013/14 to 2021/22:
4,397
65,794
478,502
7,159,525
112,166
1,678,274
34,445
515,382
629,511
9,418,974
Social Benefits
Family Solutions seeks to increase community cohesion and the wellbeing of
individuals and families by working actively with the most disadvantaged families
in each community of Essex. This will enable all family members to take
advantage of education, health, leisure/sport, and employment opportunities, as
well as improve relationships between family members and decrease isolation
within the local community. This will result in improved educational achievement,
health, employment and emotional well-being and in a reduction in crime, antisocial behaviour, domestic violence, addiction and in the high level reactive
(failure) costs associated with these.
6. Consultation with Stakeholders
Throughout 2012 there was widespread consultation concerning assessment
referral and access routes to services. Schools were involved in consultation
events in each district. The result of the consultations has informed the thinking
and development of the Family Solutions programme and the early help
guidance, the ‘Effective Support’ document and windscreen.
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7. Background / Supporting Papers

Effective support windscreen
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