Early Intervention for ‘Troubled Families’

Early intervention in the lives of families and children is a central part of the prevention agenda. However, there is little consensus on the ways in which to do it, based on the framing of target populations, timing of intervention, extent of state involvement in family life, and evidence for the success of each intervention. To frame this analysis we ask: (1) Was there a distinctive ‘window of opportunity’ for the introduction of the troubled families programme in the UK? (2) How does each government socially construct target populations, and what is the effect on policy design? (3) To what extent has each government relied on local authorities and partnerships to deliver its national agenda, and what outcomes or practices have ‘emerged’ from local activity? To help answer these questions, we consider the meaning of ‘families policy’ to help understand who has responsibility for it, trace three main elements of their policy histories, and gauge the extent to which UK policy already represented divergence from the past and from Scottish policy.