From The Bbc News Website

[Zacs-Master]

The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) is spending £448m on its efforts to change the lives of 120,000 families it identified as being among the most troubled by problems such as unemployment and poor housing.

Well, £4000 each should help them. Or is that not how it works?

[Svejk]

oh good.(rubs hands together, ;-))

[Buenchico]

>>>Or is that not how it works?

It's most definitely not how it works.

Read this to see where the money actually goes:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/10961/Troubled_families_case_studies.pdf
but preferably after reading this first to understand the actual problems:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/6151/2183663.pdf

There are plenty of people who know of a local family that is well-known for being at the centre of many problems in their area. The older members of the family are frequently in trouble with the law and those who are of school age hardly ever actually attend school. People see that there are really young children in the family who, because of the environment that they're being brought up in, are almost certain to 'go the same way' and become the muggers, burglars and general trouble-makers of the area. They all agree that 'something should be done' about the family yet, when their local authority and central government set about doing exactly that, they then complain about the cost! You can't have it both ways!

[Svejk]

seriously though, the WDA(welsh development agency) used to hand out grants to businesses and 'crow' about attracting said businesses to the area. when you worked the figures out it would cost £100,000 per job and the moment the grants etc dried up they'd be gone to the next mugs who threw money at them. not quite the same thing, i know, but an example of the misguided largesse by people with other peoples money. there'll be a few along to tell you this is good value for money.

[Svejk]

that was £100,000PA. i told you they'd^ be along.

[KARL]

This is a much disputed area and while almost everyone agrees that there is/are problem(s), there is no "solution" which everyone can agree on. It is basically a matter of culture in the most general sense because (as Buenchico points out) there are those who adopt ways of life that are not only destructive to society but also even themselves and their family - as someone said, being a yob becomes de rigueur. There are now families with several successive generations set/trapped in this way of life.

These are locals but what is interesting is that when immigrants arrive with their culture (which they pass down the generations, 2nd and onward) that leaves them sharply more "successful", the criticism, ostracism and outright hostility to them comes from quite a wide section of society. Suddenly, those who previously worried/complained about the "wasters" become kinsmen with them and turn their fury against those who have the qualities that they would want to see in the yobs, holding down a job, working hard, paying their taxes and generally getting on in life. Odd, isn't it ?

[Svejk]

you've made a few generalisations there, karl, that dont bear scrutiny. not all immigrants are honest, hard working types. most people who are concerned about mass immigration are also concerned about our home grown untermensch.

[naomi24]

Karl, //Suddenly, those who previously worried/complained .......//

Who are these people?

[Zacs-Master]

Chris //It's most definitely not how it works.//
Sense of humour bypass fully funcional then? ;-)

[Buenchico]

>>>Sense of humour bypass fully funcional then?

I think that I must have assumed that it was AOG who had posted the question ;-)

[Zacs-Master]

Ah, that would explain it.

[New Judge]

What amuses me about this is that the families in question are referred to as "troubled". They are no such thing. It is their neighbours, the children's schoolmates and other people they come into contact with who are troubled.

It is not clear whether the case studies mentioned in Chris’s link are real or the result of some wishful thinking produced for training purposes. However, throwing huge amounts of money at families who cannot behave themselves (and necessarily reducing funds for families who can) is not the answer. The way to prevent the perpetuation of this is to take the children from the parents and place them for adoption by parents who would care for them a little better. This can be done on the basis of child neglect because to raise them in such a manner is neglect, bordering on abuse. The adults can be dealt with in accordance with the law.