Troubled children
to receive help to avoid care
DCSF press release,
14 November 2007
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/pns/DisplayPN.cgi?pn_id=2007_0208
Families and their troubled children who are at risk of being taken into care
or custody will receive intensive support from trained professionals to remain
with their families, thanks to a £17.5m pilot project announced today by
government Ministers Kevin Brennan, Ivan Lewis and Gillian Merron.
Multisystemic Therapy (MST) is a family and community-based treatment
programme for young people with complex clinical, social, and educational
problems, such as violence, drug abuse and school expulsion. It supports young
people who are at risk of developing early personality disorder, chronic
offending and perhaps antisocial behaviour, and who may be at risk of going
into care, to remain with their families in the community.
Speaking at the British Association of Adoption and Fostering conference,
Children’s Minister Kevin Brennan said:
“Every child deserves stability in their life which is why we want to help
families with the potential to have a positive future to stay together
wherever possible. These pilots will help keep children out of the care
system, help them go back to school and play a positive part in their
communities.
“For those children for whom care is the best option we are taking a Bill
through the House which will see radical changes in how these services are
delivered.”
Care Services Minister Ivan Lewis said: "Today's announcement is about
prevention, helping children and young people stay out of care and custody.
Supporting them to remain with their families so that they have a better
chance of overcoming their serious problems.
"There is compelling evidence from America to show that Multi-Systemic
Therapies can be successful in engaging with young people and that young
people who take part in the programme are less likely to commit crime and more
likely to participate in education and training.
"The ten newly funded sites will build on two existing pilot schemes in
England and will be part of a national research programme to further evaluate
the effectiveness of MST in the country."
The MST approach is being piloted by the Department for Children, Schools and
Families in partnership with the Department of Health and fulfils the
commitment set out in the Cabinet Office's Social Exclusion Action Plan to
test interventions for tackling mental health problems in childhood.
Cabinet Office Minister responsible for social exclusion, Gillian Merron said:
"This ground-breaking approach will make an incredible difference to families
where children are at real risk of falling into the care or criminal justice
systems. The intensive support it provides offers a fantastic opportunity for
these families to turn their problems around and to avoid ending up in
long-term, chronic social exclusion.”
Multisystemic Therapy is delivered over a period of three to six months, in
homes, neighbourhoods, schools and communities by professionals who may come
from a range of disciplines such as psychology, social work and family therapy
with small caseloads. Young people will be referred from youth offending teams
and children’s services.
There will be pilots in: London Merton & Royal Borough of Kingston, Leeds,
Reading, Barnsley, Peterborough, Sheffield, London Borough of Greenwich,
Trafford, Plymouth, Hackney.
The pilot sites reflect the diversity of populations in the UK including new
immigrants from Eastern Europe.
There is international evidence to suggest that MST can be successful in
engaging young people with anti-social behaviour and their families, and in
improving outcomes for these young people, in terms of reducing offending
behaviour, family conflict and out of home placement. It is widely used in the
places such as the US, Norway , and is being trialled in many other countries
such as Australia and the Netherlands
A robust research programme will collect evidence of the impact of the pilots
and inform decisions about any wider rollout of the model.
a DCSF press release, 14 November 2007
Related Links
Department for Children,
Schools and Families
What
is multisystemic therapy?
