Staff to gain new intervention skills

Practitioners working in deprived areas will receive training on dealing with antisocial families, the government announced this week.

The Department for Education and Skills will spend up to £1m training an anticipated 1,000 practitioners working on family intervention projects, which involve intensive packages of support and enforcement for problem families led by key workers.

The government’s Respect Task Force is working with 50 councils to set up projects in each area by the end of the year.

A further £4m from the Respect programme is to be used to fund the appointment of “parenting experts”, described as a “clinical psychologist type role”, to provide parenting programmes in 77 local authorities.

Recruitment guidance is to be provided to the relevant councils.