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divdiv class=story-body readability=36 span class=story-date#13; span class=date24 November 2013/span#13;span class=time-textLast updated at /spanspan class=time19:58 ET/span#13; #13;/span#13;#13; #13;#13;#13; #13; #13; #13; #13; p class=introduction id=story_continues_1The lives of 22,000 troubled families in England have been turned around, according to the government./p#13; pThe announcement comes at the half-way stage of a three-year programme to tackle 120,000 such families./p#13; pThe £448m scheme was launched by Prime Minister David Cameron following the 2011 riots in various English cities./p#13; pThe government defines troubled families as those facing multiple problems including unemployment, anti-social behaviour and truancy. /p#13; pOne estimate is that each troubled family costs taxpayers £75,000 a year./p#13; pUnder the Troubled Families programme, councils are paid up to £4,000 for each family they get off the troubled list, often by giving them intensive, targeted support with all aspects of life. /p#13; pThe government says that authorities are now working with 62,000 families - half the overall target - 18 months into the programme, which ends in 2015./p#13; span class=cross-head'Great strides'/span#13; pMinisters say 22,000 families have been turned around with children in school, youth crime and anti-social behaviour significantly reduced and more than 1,400 adults in continuous work./p#13; div class=story-feature wide readability=7#13; a class=hidden href=#story_continues_2Continue reading the main story/a h2Troubled families/h2#13; !-- pullout-items--#13; #13; !-- pullout-body--#13; pThe government defines troubled families as those that meet specific criteria in the following areas:/p#13; p1. Under-18s involved in crime and/or family member involved in anti-social behaviour/p#13; p2. Child excluded from school or is a regular truant/p#13; p3. An adult on benefits/p#13; pWhere families meet two of the criteria but are a cause for concern, councils can rule that other factors - including health problems - mean they are troubled families./p#13; pSource: Department for Communities and Local Government/p#13; #13; !-- pullout-links--#13; /div p id=story_continues_2The Department for Communities and Local Government said Wakefield had turned around more than half of its 930 troubled families and Leicestershire almost half of its 810./p#13; pCommunities Secretary Eric Pickles said the results so far showed that councils were making great strides./p#13; pI am delighted that our programme is already helping half of our target of 120,000 troubled families at its mid way stage, he said./p#13; pCouncils are making great strides in a very short space of time, dealing with families that have often had problems and created serious issues in their communities for generations./p#13; pThese results show that these problems can be dealt with through a no-nonsense and common-sense approach, bringing down costs to the taxpayer at the same time./p#13; pLouise Casey, head of the Troubled Families programme, said: This programme is getting to grips with families who for too long have been allowed to be caught up in a cycle of despair. /p#13; pThese results show that a tough, intensive but supportive approach has a big impact; giving hope and opportunity to the families and respite to the communities around them./p#13; /div/divbrbrcentera href=http://www.wizardrss.comPowered By WizardRSS.com/a | a href=http://www.wizardrss.comFull Text RSS Feed/a | a href=http://www.amazon.com/RFID-Blocking-Cards-Identity-Protector/dp/B00CJHZLEWRFID/a | a href=http://www.wpzonbuilder.comAmazon Affiliate/a/center