1. Southwark’s Troubled Families Programme
Family Focus Plus
Southwark’s Troubled Families Programme

2. 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
TF is a national programme that we are required to deliver on a local level. Nationally prescribed eligibility and outcome measures however locally determined approach- which is something we are working through
Payment by results – this is how we will be funded going forward against the success and results that services have

3. 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
ASB includes an incident of domestic violence and there can also be professional concern about engagement with violence in the family
If a family meets the FFP criteria, a tracking tool must be completed so that they can be attached to FFP.

4. 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
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
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
Mum receiving out of work benefit
5 year old daughter not on school role

5. 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.

6. 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

7. Why attach a family?
Attract as much funding to the borough as possible for services to TF
Get intelligence on other services involved
Use resources to best effect
Develop an evidence base of what works in supporting families with complex needs
Provide an opportunity to think and work differently with families
Funding: to help replace the deficit from the recent and ongoing efficiency savings
Build an evidence base of what works in improving outcomes for families with complex needs – the aim of the programme is to build an infrastructure of effective support by the end of the programme in Current services that are effective in supporting families should attach their families to ensure they are evaluated as part of what works through the tracking of outcomes
Provides an opportunity to work differently with families – providing a more personal approach for example use of personal budgets to purchase respite, or sports club activities or the purchasing of specialist support e.g. CAMHS support or specialist assessments. The programme follows the FIP principles of sanction and reward therefore as long as provision will support improvement in outcomes and the family are aware of the need for improvement in outcomes to ensure ongoing

8. 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
Evidence - In making return it is LP and manager’s responsibility to ensure that appropriate evidence and documentation is retained to support what has been reported. You (Evidence does not have to be submitted with return, but the case file may be subject to a random audit in future)

9. …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

10. Family Focus Plus Virtual Professional Network:
Should you identify 2 or 3 additional VCS provision has already been commissioned to support families including:
Southwark Works (employment)
Family Lives
Family Action
St Giles Trust
or lead professionals and families can identify specific requirements to support improving outcomes of the family and this can be requested via the intelligent hub
Throughout the programme the virtual network of specifically commissioned services will continue to grow as specific requests are made by families and lead professionals

11. Specialist Family Focus Team Structure Chart
Increased capacity in Specialist Family Focus Team including additional disciplines in line with features of the FFP cohort – nurse practitioner, adult mental health worker and EWO
Specialist Family Focus Team
Structure Chart

12. VCS Commissioned Services
Bespoke commissioned services providing an opportunity to think differently about the support offered to families
Commissioned via an outcomes based commissioning exercise bringin creativity into the process and supported by an ongoing in practice development working group from across the VCS and SFFT

13. 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
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
As mentioned this phaese is about identification – once we have identified the cohort then we can begin to work through what provision needs to look like to support achieving the required outcomes for families. This is something that will be co-designed with services (and working holistically is about an evidence base for what is effective)

14. Need more details?
See Guidance for Operational Services for further information
For any support please
Any questions?
My advice is for any detailed questions outside of identification then I would push back with ‘this is what we will be working through once we have an attached cohort’
And for any technical details refer them to Jane Hawkins