Dear Colleague,

Call for Evidence: Social Exclusion Task Force Families At-Risk Review

The Social Exclusion Task Force, based in the Cabinet Office, invites you to contribute to its Families At-Risk Review. The call for evidence provides a unique opportunity for you to help identify key lessons from practice and research that will be used to inform the direction of the review, and improve outcomes for some of the most excluded children and families. The call for evidence is being administered by the Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion. You can contribute to it by completing a short electronic questionnaire accessible at this link: http://survey.cesi.org.uk/setf/MainPage.htm

The review will aim to:

• set out a vision of an effective family support system for families with additional or complex needs
• identify barriers and practical solutions to the provision of a coherent approach for these families
• agree action to better integrate adult, child and community services around the needs of excluded families in order to tackle the drivers of exclusion

A particular focus of the review will be the extent to which adults’ services (both mainstream and specialist) respond to the needs of their clients as parents or carers and family members.  The review aims to capture the views of a broad range of stakeholders about the advantages and disadvantages of a ‘whole families’ approach, as a means to addressing the needs of some of the most disadvantaged families in society.

The Families At-Risk Review will build on the analysis and recommendations of other recent developments, including the DfES/HMT Review of Children & Young People, by focussing in particular on the interface between adults and children’s services.  If you have previously submitted evidence which you think will be relevant to us, then we would be grateful if you could indicate this, so that we can follow up your original submission.

Your views are important and I am very grateful to you for your time in completing this questionnaire. This evidence will be important to us in identifying areas for further detailed study and policy development.  We also very much hope that the findings from this review can be used to share and promote good practice. 

I should be grateful if you could respond by 26^th March 2007 .

Naomi Eisenstadt

Click here to return to the questionnaire.