The ‘troubled families’ programme, which is designed to turn around the lives of some of the most disadvantaged families, is unlikely to meet its targets because it is proving very difficult to identify the families that need help.

The DCLG programme which aims to turn around the lives of 120,000 troubled families by March 2015 is 13% behind its own expectations of performance. By October 2013 it had achieved lasting improvements in the lives of 22,000 families, leaving a further 98,000 to be ‘turned around’ by May 2015.

A major barrier to delivering the programme has been uncovered by a Capita One survey that revealed 58% of councils are having difficulty identifying the families.

The survey also revealed that 74% of children’s services staff are using multiple software systems or paper-based processes to monitor progress with troubled families. This can result in teams spending a lot of time collating the information they need to track the success of the support they are providing.

Commenting on the survey results, Phil Neal, managing director of Capita One, said: “It’s interesting to see how many local authorities are actively implementing early intervention strategies in children’s services. However, as the figures show, there are barriers that still need to be overcome to ensure teams are successful in turning around the lives of the most vulnerable in society.

“A goldmine of information is gathered by authorities and other agencies that can be used to identify the children and families who need help. But in some areas staff report that confusion can exist over when and how this information should be shared. Removing barriers to efficient and effective data sharing is not only critical to ensuring early help is delivered to those who need it most, it is also central to ensuring services make a difference.”

Phil Neal concludes: “The results suggest that more work needs to be done to ensure key information on children and families is easily accessible to the teams they are in contact with. As more and more authorities focus on delivering early help, this will become increasingly essential to ensuring that schemes achieve better outcomes for all those living in the most challenging circumstances.”