DCSF outlines funding for more FIPs

The government today announced new grant money for local authorities to help recruit and train frontline workers to meet the government’s expanded targets for family intervention projects (FIP’s).

Children’s minister Dawn Primarolo, speaking at the “Think Family” national conference unveiled a package of new measures to help vulnerable families, which also included new guidance for social workers working with the children of parents with substance misuse problems.

The money will be in the form of indicative “think family” grant funding allocations for every local authority from 2010-2011 so that they can plan the recruitment and training of extra professionals to help families at risk, and to provide family intervention projects for all families deemed to need it.

Other new initiatives announced today include:

• a new framework setting out how probation and prison services must work together with children’s services to help offenders maintain family ties and improve support for their children and families
• a £3.6m expansion of the Young Carer Pathfinder projects to 12 new local authority areas to improve the outcomes of children who often miss education due to caring responsibilities at home
• the 20 areas that will deliver the new £6.5m child poverty FIPs which will address underlying problems preventing parents gaining employment such as drugs and alcohol misuse, domestic violence and mental health problems 

Primarolo said: “The package of measures announced today will help professionals working with families and make sure no child or family is left behind. As well as today’s package, our planned changes to the role of children’s trusts will place a clear responsibility on agencies to co-ordinate services to improve the well-being of children and young people. This will further ensure vulnerable children are not missed. ”

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