British gov't confirms extra support for troubled families

British families with deep rooted problems will receive much-needed support to get their lives back on track with up to 165 million pounds (about 217 million U.S. dollars) of new funding, British Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has announced.

The program, originally set to run for five years from 2015 to 2020, was now extended by a year until 2021. According to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, the funding for the Troubled Families program will provide intensive support for some of the most vulnerable families.

"This is the right thing to do for families and for society as a whole, and these reforms will reduce the demand and dependency on costly, reactive key public services," Jenrick said in a statement.

The funding will be used to tackle complex social and health issues including unemployment, poor school attendance, mental health issues, anti-social behaviour and domestic abuse. Working with the whole family unit across local services, with a focus on early intervention, the program has a proven track record of driving reforms across public services.

Revamped in 2015 with the aim of helping 400,000 families by 2020, the program was launched by former Prime Minister David Cameron in 2012 in response to the 2011 riots in English cities.

Rather than responding to each problem, or single family member separately, the program will send assigned Troubled Families keyworkers to engage with the whole family. Through this approach, they coordinate support from a range of services to identify and address family issues as early as possible rather than merely reacting to crises.