What is Think Family?
Think Family is the approach used in Wakefield to support families to overcome multiple and complex problems by working with the whole family, not just individual family members needs, this builds on the Government’s Troubled Families programme.
To be included in the Think Family programme in Wakefield a family must be facing two or more of the following difficulties:
- Parents and/or children involved in crime or antisocial behaviour
- Children who have not been attending school regularly
- Children who are in need of help
- Adults out of work or at risk of financial exclusion and young people at risk of becoming NEET (not in employment, education or training)
- Families affected by domestic violence or abuse
- Parents and children with a range of health problems
Each family must include at least one adult and one dependent child. The priority is to work with families with multiple problems, families who are likely to benefit from a whole family approach. This recognises that children or their family members experiencing vulnerabilities will not be experiencing them in isolation, each family member may be affected. The whole family approach considers each individual as a member of the family and services work together, from both children and adult services to meet these needs.
Wakefield has pledged to work with 3,030 families by 2020, to support them to achieve significant and sustained improvement to their lives and encourage families to build resilience and know how to help themselves.
Families that are worked with under the programme and have evidence of long term significant improvement enables the council to claim additional funding through Central Government. This can then be used to improve and sustain services for families.
Headlines
- Around 4,600 families have been supported by Think Family in Wakefield District; over 17,000 individual family members.
- The number of families being supported has increased sharply in the last few years, with around 1,600 families supported in 2018-19.
- A high proportion of families supported live in the most deprived areas in the district; a third of families supported came from areas that are in the most deprived 20%.
- The three wards where the highest proportion of families supported lived were, South Elmsall and South Kirkby, Normanton and Wakefield West (2018-19).
- In 2018-19, 54% of those supported were female; almost a quarter of those supported were boys aged under 20 years, higher than the 22.5% of girls in this age group.
- A significant proportion of those supported in 2018-19 were people from ethnic minority backgrounds, around 16%. This is slightly higher than the estimated 15% in the general population. More information can be found here: Ethnicity.
- The main reason families were eligible for support was ‘NI3: Children in need of help’, a third of families were supported in 2018-19 because of this reason.
- In 2018-19 domestic violence/abuse, out of work/financial exclusion and health were the other main reasons families were eligible for support.
How Wakefield compares to similar areas
The table below shows the proportion of our claim target that has been reached to March 2019 compared to our statistical neighbours. Quarter 1 2019/2020 data is due to be released shortly and will be updated as soon as is available.
How many people have been supported by Think Family?
You can see the number of people and the number of families that have been supported by Think Family in Wakefield by using the interactive dashboard. Select if you want to look at families or individuals from the list on the right, this will update the dashboard to show the relevant data.
Where do people live who have been supported by Think Family?
You can see the percentage of families supported by Think Family in Wakefield living in each area by using the interactive dashboard. Select the area type and year you want to look at from the lists on the right, this will update the dashboard to show the relevant data.
What is the age and sex profile of those who have been supported by Think Family?
You can see the age, sex and ethnic profile of those supported by Think Family in Wakefield by using the interactive dashboards. Select the year you want to look at from the list and this will update the dashboard to show the percentage in each group.
What are the main reasons why people have been supported by Think Family?
You can see the main reasons why people have been supported by Think Family in Wakefield by using the interactive dashboards. Select the area and year you want to look at from the list and this will update the dashboards to show the percentage in each group. Families will be counted in more than one category as they need to be facing two or more difficulties to be eligible for support.
Resources and evidence
Troubled Families Financial Framework
Troubled Families National Evaluation 2015-2020