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The final report Think Family: Improving the Life Chances of Families at Risk, published in january 2008, set out a vision for a local system that helps break the cycle of disadvantage by ‘thinking family’ at every level.

“The research makes it clear that taking family circumstances into account is of vital importance,”

says Naomi Eisenstadt, Director, Social Exclusion Task Force.

“If an adult with multiple problems is also a parent, then it is essential for the adults' services involved to think of them as a parent rather than as just a person with problems. There has to be effective collaboration not only across adults' services but between adults' and children's services, with support tailored to the whole family. The best children's services, working on their own, can't eliminate the impact on children of parents with severe and entrenched problems – be these drugs, mental health issues or a range of other difficulties.”

Family Pathfinder pilots

Partners in government such as the Department for Children, Schools and Families [External website] (DCSF) are leading a £16 million programme of Family Pathfinder pilots in 15 areas to test and develop the ‘Think Family’ approach set out by SETF in the Families at Risk review. Local authorities and their partners will drive improved outcomes for families at risk, improve coordination between adult and children's services and develop solutions such as whole family assessments. Six Pathfinder areas will also become Extended Family Pathfinders for Young Carers, addressing the specific support needs of families with young carers.

Other innovative approaches

During 2007, the Task Force was instrumental in helping to launch two cross-cutting pilot schemes being led by the Department for Children, Schools and Families, and the Department for Health and Communities and Local Government:

• Family Nurse Partnerships – 10 pilots aimed at supporting the most vulnerable mothers-to-be and their children. The programme provides intensive home visits to disadvantaged young mothers from early pregnancy until the child is aged two. The sites went live in April 2007.
• Multi-systemic Therapy Pilots – 10 pilots aimed at promoting behaviour change in young people at high risk of being taken into care or custody. The pilot sites will go live between June and September 2008.

To find out more about the work of the Social Exclusion Task Force, visit: www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/social_exclusion.aspx