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UNDERSTANDING TROUBLED FAMILIES  document produced by The Department for Communities and Local Government  is now available on line

Summary of key points:

'The findings show that on entry to the programme, the sample of troubled families had the following characteristics

•40% had  3 or more children, compared to 16% nationally

•49% were lone parent households, compared to 16% nationally

•82% of families had a problem related to education – such as persistent unauthorised absence, exclusion from school or being out of mainstream education

•71% of families had a health problem

•54% of families were involved in crime or anti -social behaviour

•42% of families had had police called out to their address in the previous six months.

-29% of troubled families were experiencing domestic violence or abuse on entry to the programme. National estimates put the level of domestic violence among individuals at around 7% in a year

•Over a third of families (35%) had a child who was either a Child in Need, subject to child protection arrangements or where a child had been taken into care
•One in five (22%) had been at risk of eviction in the previous six months
•In nearly three quarters of families (74%) families there was no one in work compared to 17% of households nationally

•In 83% of families, an adult was receiving and out of work benefit compared to around 11% of the population nationally

•70% were living in social housing compared to 18% of the population nationally.'