Despite being a comparatively new initiative, the Basildon Family Intervention Project has been attracting attention on the national stage in recent weeks.

The project, which aims to reduce anti-social behaviour by supporting  families to greater social inclusion, is supported through a partnership between Family Mosaic, Basildon Borough Council and Essex County Council. The Pitsea-based team are all seconded to the Project from our Floating Support services in South Essex .

Strong inter-agency partnerships & tangible results

Earlier this month, David Behan – Director General of Social Care, Local Government and Care Partnerships at the Department of Health – brought a group of high-ranking advisors to meet the team. The Government is looking at innovative ways of working with families with complex needs and the Basildon Project was identified as one which has formed strong inter-agency partnerships and delivered tangible results in its local area.

ASB reduced significantly

The FIP Team of Tracey Laidlaw, Glennis Willis and Kerrie Jenkins were able to spend time with the advisors explaining their work and telling them about the successes and challenges of the past year. They have worked with over 20 families so far and seen levels of anti-social behaviour reduce significantly. None of the families have suffered eviction, despite being at serious risk when referred, and many of the children involved have shown increased attendance at school.

Another recent visitor to Basildon is James Brokenshire MP, Minister for Crime Reduction. He has been visiting local authorities as part of a consultation exercise on the new ASB proposals.

ASB in Basildon has reduced by 15% in the past year and, since the FIP’s work has contributed towards that, he was keen to hear a presentation on what has been achieved by the team. He heard about the impact that had been made in a very short time, but also about the threat posed by lack of long-term funding.

 Family Intervention is central to Government policy on ASB and families with complex needs, but the advances achieved can only be consolidated if a commitment to on-going funding is present.

Operations Manager Rod Fanning, who manages the Project, said "I have been greatly impressed with the commitment and dedication of the team and it has been wonderful to see the real difference made to the lives of families with entrenched and challenging problems. We will be working hard over the coming months to secure funding to ensure that the service is able to continue in future years".