Family charities say work plans are too narrow

Government plans to focus its post-riot "social fightback" on getting the most troubled families into work fail to address the broad range of problems facing England's most deprived communities, according to charities in the field.

As part of proposals to "mend society", Prime Minister David Cameron has pledged to extend the Working Families Everywhere programme to 120,000 families by 2015. The scheme - run by Emma Harrison, founder of welfare-to-work provider A4E - will use volunteer "family champions" to act as key workers for families, brokering support from agencies and helping them find jobs.

But Rhian Beynon, head of policy at the charity Family Action, said the government's emphasis on workless families is too narrow.

"There are a range of other families who need support so we hope that the whole focus isn't on getting people out to work," she said. "There needs to be a focus on protecting children and working alongside families."

She warned that employment may not be the top priority for a family struggling to deal with mental health problems or drug addiction, arguing that whole-family support backed by community investment is required to meet the complex needs of children and parents.

"Unfortunately, sometimes if parents have difficulties, children have to look outside the home for role models," she explained. "There needs to be more investment in communities, in youth clubs and community centres. Children buy into gangs because they feel estranged from communities. Without investment in the community, it's hard to give young people examples of good leadership."

Hilton Dawson, chief executive of the British Association of Social Workers, criticised the government for advocating "novel" family support initiatives that are not supported by evidence.

Research has suggested that family intervention programmes (FIPs), which cost up to £20,000 a family, are successful when implemented in full. But it is not yet known whether the Working Families Everywhere programme will follow the FIPs approach.

"There aren't any quick fixes. What we do need is sustained prioritisation of programmes that work," Dawson said. Referring to his experience as chair of the National Academy of Parenting Practitioners, he added: "There is a wide range of evidence-based parenting programmes that if applied, can make a huge difference to the way in which parents bring up children."

He added that the government should invest in putting more social workers in communities: "The support young people get from social workers can be instrumental in helping them build the ability to learn, take on training and be involved in work opportunities."

Caroline Davey, director of policy at single-parent charity Gingerbread, called on the government to avoid the "cheap cliche" of blaming absent fathers and family breakdown for the riots. "It's depressing to see old stereotypes being trotted out," she said. "There are 1.9m single parents bringing up around three million children and the vast majority are doing a great job."

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