Nacro, the crime reduction charity, has welcomed today’s announcement by David Cameron of funding for new Troubled Families Teams, and called for the government to engage with the voluntary sector in delivering the new services.

Responding to the announcement, Paul McDowell, Nacro’s chief executive, said that the voluntary sector is already playing an important role in family intervention, and can do more:

‘Charities like Nacro are well placed to work with the most troubled young people and their families and is already running successful family intervention projects across England and Wales. We can provide a wraparound service, with dedicated support workers for each family who can help in the home, with work and education, and with access to other support services. This helps steer people away from crime and supports communities.

‘Intervening early with troubled families and young people is absolutely vital to breaking the cycle of crime and antisocial behaviour. Not all young people from troubled families will offend but some will, and by intervening early we can reduce crime, change people’s lives and lessen the burden on the state and on individual communities.’

For further information, please contact Alex Dziedzan, Media Manager on 020 7840 7214 or Amy Hanson, Press Officer on 020 7840 7216, or email media@nacro.org.uk.