The government has reviewed its troubled families programme. This is a policy to offer more support and staff time to help families prone to difficulties in order to reduce the incidence of adult and juvenile crime, family break up, joblessness and other problems.
The report suggests that every pound spent on the troubled families programme has saved more than that in other government expenditures. By looking at the group of families in the programme and a control group not in it, they conclude that the programme has reduced youth and adult crime and kept more children living at home.
We do need to help families that have difficulty in looking after their children and keeping them out of trouble.
March 22, 2019
Early intervention is essential in cases of inadequate parenting. Child Benefit should be re-named the Responsible Parents’ Allowance. In France, I believe, this benefit is paid at the child health clinic where most mothers go – I certainly did, as a young mother, and received much helpful advice. The child’s progress and welfare can be monitored, intervention and support offered where necessary. Inadequate parents can be encouraged to acquire better parenting skills and have the satisfaction and sense of achievement of receiving the Responsible Parents’ Allowance once they demonstrate they are capable of looking after their children properly.