A TOTAL of 1,200 “troubled families” in Dorset are to receive help to turn their lives around.

The Government has revealed that every eligible council – including Bournemouth, Poole and Dorset – has agreed to run its Troubled Families programme.

It is part of Prime Minister David Cameron’s pledge to turn around 120,000 families nationwide over the next three years.

Councils will be paid by results – Bournemouth could get £1,233,333, Poole £800,000 and Dorset £1,966,667.

The idea is to get children off the streets and back into school, reduce youth crime and anti-social behaviour and get jobless adults back into work.

In Dorset, 1,200 families have been identified as “troubled” – 370 in Bournemouth, 240 in Poole and 590 in Dorset.

Sue Bickler, service director for information community and culture at Bournemouth Council, said: “For some families, breaking the cycle of poverty, lack of work and crime is really challenging, and our job is to engage with families and enable them to do this.

“In the first year we will be engaging with 125 families. We will also be looking at how services need to change in the longer term, and this is perhaps the most challenging part of the project.”

Cllr Janet Walton, cabinet portfolio holder for children, families and youth at Borough of Poole, said: “We are committed to turning around the lives of troubled families. In Poole, there are 240 families with complex problems ranging from long-term unemployment to anti-social behaviour and poor school attendance. “Poole’s ‘Families with Futures’ programme offers targeted support to these families to help turn their lives around. In addition to the anticipated Government funding, we’ve committed additional funding to develop an effective programme which makes a real difference to people’s lives.”

The Government estimates that so-called troubled families put a £9 billion drain on public spending – some £75,000 per family per year.

Based on the numbers identified in Dorset, that totals £90,000,000 per year.

Cllr Angus Campbell, leader of Dorset County Council, said: “The programme means that we can interact more proactively with these families and help them to improve their life chances, building a better future.”

EARLIER this year, the government’s then-‘People Helping People’ star, Emma Harrison, pictured below, visited Rossmore Children’s Centre.

During her visit she said Poole was already “ahead of the game” in helping every family become a working family.

She spoke to the kind of people the government wants to help into work.

One mum being helped by the scheme said: “A lot of people wouldn’t know how to get into it, where to start – especially if they’ve been out of work for a long time.”

Another said: “We need to get everybody back out into the community and helping each other.”