THOUSANDS more families in Oxfordshire are set to be helped by a scheme aimed at people struggling with crime, employment, health and education.

The so-called Thriving Families scheme targets troubled families and helps them address issues and access services.

Run by Oxfordshire County Council, the first phase worked with 810 families, focusing on children being associated with crime or antisocial behaviour, not going to school, and the unemployed.

Now the Government has asked the council to identify and work with another 2,890 families by 2020 as part of the second phase.

It is the county’s quota of Witney MP and Prime Minister David Cameron’s plan to help 120,000 troubled families by the end of his time in Parliament.

It comes after it was revealed that in the first phase the council had successfully “turned around” every single family they worked with.

The council said they helped 743 families with school attendance, 607 families with employment and 443 families involved in crime or antisocial behaviour.

A single mother with several children aged between 11 and 20 was grieving after both her mother and one of her children died in a short space of time.

Early intervention manager Delia Mann said: “She was crying on the couch almost constantly. The children were not going to school and she was unable to parent effectively. We helped her access counselling and did the school run with her. Now the children are back at school and she has been able to remain in charge. She said her children are smiling again.”

A successful “turnaround”

has been defined as when children who were truanting or excluded have been back in school for three consecutive terms.

It also demands no further youth offences for six months, a drop in antisocial behaviour incidents of 60 per cent and an adult coming off benefits into work for at least 13 weeks.

The council got £4,000 for each family that met its goals from the Government in the first phase, and said for every pound invested in these families there was a saving of £3.22 to public services. For phase two this would drop to £1,800 per family.

This means so far the council has made £3.24m and could make another £5.2m by 2020. During the scheme a single social worker helps families develop an action plan for improvement and helps people access the agencies they need.

The council has identified 434 families for the second phase this year and will identify another 492 in 2015-16.

The expanded programme will also target families with children at risk of neglect, families with domestic violence problems and families with a range of health issues.

Cabinet member for children, education and families Melinda Tilley said: “The project is giving Oxfordshire families the help they need to turn themselves around.”