Put 'families from hell' in care

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"Families from hell" should be placed into residential care to make them behave better, MPs have heard.

The neighbourhood crime tsar, Louise Casey, said a small number of troubled families caused "phenomenal" problems by letting their children run riot.

Ms Casey told the Home Affairs Select Committee that these families were costing up to £330,000 a year.

Placing whole families in care would cost less and allow agencies to provide tough controls and offer more support.

Some of the worst parents were "deliberately choosing not to cope" with their children, she said.

They are few in number but the problems they cause in communities are phenomenal Louise Casey

Making the case for Family Intervention Projects, which involve intensive help for the most difficult families, she said: "I was very clear that we needed to have residential projects that I would almost equate with taking a family into care.

"You have got to crack down on the very small number of absolutely problematic families that cause the most havoc in communities.

"That varies from the lowest level of disorder that we call anti-social behaviour to the nastiest crimes.

"I think they are few in number but the problems they cause in communities are phenomenal.

"The average amount of money we are already spending on these families... is between £250,000 and £330,000 a year."

In comparison, Family Intervention Projects cost £20,000 - with 66% of families who have experienced them no longer involved in any anti-social behaviour, the Department for Children, Schools and Families said.

Ministers insist the projects are not an easy let-off.

Instead they involve tough and consistent intervention and a last chance for families to turn themselves around, they say.