Early Help Funding Set To Benefit Troubled Bradford Families

Friday, 20 May 2016 13:48

Bradford District is set to benefit from a £1.5million investment in its work to provide Early Help to families in need of support.

The funding comes from an award of £9.4million allocated to the Leeds City Region by the European Structural and Investment Fund and the Big Lottery Fund who will contribute £4.7 million each.

Leeds City Council has been supported by Bradford Council as a strategic partner, and Bradford District is expected to benefit from £1,575,540 spread over a two year period which is set to start in January 2017.

The funding in Bradford will support targeted Early Help projects and will build on the successes of the Troubled Families programme.

Early Help means helping families to solve small problems before they become big ones. It will involve providing important support to families before they:

• Start to cause anti-social behaviour,

• Risk criminal records, or

• Develop poor school attendance or are excluded from school.

Activity will be delivered mainly through voluntary sector organisations and will be tailored to individual families at risk. The approach the support will take is to: prevent, intervene early, or provide early remedial treatment.

Support will also be given to families where there is unemployment, economic inactivity, and to those who are furthest from the labour market.

The kinds of activity that the funding will support are: skills building, employability support, support to improve financial capability, support to find and keep employment, and resilience building. These activities will be in additional to any national and statutory provision.

The funding has four main targets which are that:

• at least 865 people engage in activities to improve work readiness

• 17% move into education or training on leaving

• 14% move into employment

• 27% who were economically inactive move into job searching

Councillor Val Slater, Bradford Council's Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Health and Wellbeing, said: "This is fantastic news for the District. Providing Early Help is a vital way in which we can support struggling families in turning their lives around. It means we can help families overcome some of the barriers they may face in gaining and sustaining employment so they can benefit themselves and make a positive contribution to the community.

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