Government awards £16m to 'life chances' projects

Youth minister Tracey Crouch has announced that 10 projects will receive more than £16m from the first round of funding from the government's Life Chances Fund, which was launched in July 2016 to tackle social problems through payment-by-results schemes.

All 10 projects will receive funding through Social Impact Bonds, whereby payments are only made when agreed targets are met. They will also benefit from additional funding from 36 local authorities, to provide them with a combined pot of £37.6m

Family Drug and Alcohol Courts are the biggest recipient, and will receive £6.2m over the next seven years to support their work helping families whose children are subject to care proceedings due to parental substance abuse and domestic violence.

Meanwhile, the East Midlands Children's Services Social Investment Platform will receive £3m to support young people aged between 10 and 17, who are either in care or at risk of entering care.

And Fostering Better Outcomes, a project run by Cheshire West and Chester Council will receive £939,000. The project will provide intensive support foster care placements for 30 children aged between seven and 17, including those with complex needs looking to move from residential care into a family environment.

"This funding will benefit some of the most vulnerable people in society and provide vital support to help them transform their lives," Crouch said.

"The UK is a world leader in using social impact bonds to make a positive impact in society and these projects will achieve real results in communities across the country."

Others to receive funding include the Integrated Family Support project, which will receive £1.8m to work with families where parents have drug and alcohol issues.

And a Warwickshire County Council initiative called Bright Residential for Children will receive £1.1m to fund residential placements for children in Warwickshire.

Plymouth City Council will receive £539,140 for a three-year project that aims to reduce the rate of children aged under five entering care by supporting around 40 mothers who have had a number of children taken into care.

Edge of Care and Reunification, a multi-systemic therapeutic programme to help children in care return to their family home or find a permanent foster care placement, will receive £425,000.

In addition, the Suffolk-based Early Intervention Care Prevention project will receive £422,000 to help reduce the number of teenagers in care.