Item 12 Appendix 2
West Dunbartonshire Council · 16 September 2026
Back to Educational Services Committee — 16 September 2026 and its agenda
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Confidential West Dunbartonshire 1st April 2025 – 31st March 2026 Background: FFT is an evidence-based programme aimed at improving the outcomes for young people aged 8 - 18. It is a family based intensive intervention programme that builds on the existing strengths within family relationships. The programme works with some of the most vulnerable young people including those who are demonstrating significant behavioural difficulties, involvement in community risk behaviours, violent behaviour, substance misuse and young people who are at risk of becoming accommodated. FFT was developed in the USA in the 1970s, where it has been the subject of a number of evaluations in relation to the effectiveness of the programme. FFT was first established in the England in 2011 and then Scotland in 2012 and has since grown to over 16 teams across the UK. With 4 teams in Scotland, supporting families across 8 local authority areas. FFT interventions range from 12 to 30 sessions over a three-to-five-month period. The intensity and duration is dependent on the levels of risk that the young person is deemed to be exposed to. Working with the whole family, FFT supports young people and their relatives to learn new skills to help address the challenges they face within the context of their relationships with each family member. By taking a whole-family approach, FFT works to ensure that changes are maintained and that the young people we help make real progress. Sustainability is a vital component of the model and FFT wants to ensure that the progress made by families is sustained beyond the period of direct involvement with the programme. To aid this, therapists share learning and skills with support services and extended family to ensure that the family’s longer terms supports are able to take a consistent approach. This also helps to build on the strengths the family have developed during their FFT work. Overview of Service Provision: With over 9 years’ experience of supporting young people and families across West Dunbartonshire, Functional Family Therapy (FFT) continues to work in partnership with West Dunbartonshire Council to achieve their shared aims of enabling young people to remain at home safely with their families. • FFT has been funded by West Dunbartonshire Council from April 2016 to March 2027. • FFT have been contracted to support up to 32 families with 1.6FTE Therapists per year. Referral Overview: 1st April 2025 – 31st March 2026 New Referrals 30 Completed 18 Open 12 Did Not Progress 5 Did Not Complete 2 Total Families worked with this year 39 Awaiting Allocation 5 Appendix 2
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Confidential Demographics:
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Confidential Outcome Data: Return Rates: Participant Return rate Referring Professional (social worker or educational psychologist) 27% Parent or Carer 71% Young Person 53% Outcomes Summary: Completed Cases April 2024 – March 2025 Youth Remained at Home 18(100%) Youth Attending/ Enrolled in Education or training 18(100%) No New Law Violation During FFT 16 (88%) Outcome Measures: The Client Outcome Measure (COM) is a questionnaire which assesses parent/carer’s perceptions of change in family functioning, communication, improved parenting skills, parental supervision and changes in family conflict. Each dimension is rated on a scale ranging from things are worse to things are much better. Measures also explore the frequency of any presenting challenging behaviours and prosocial behaviours. This data allows FFT Therapists to assess progress in a range of domains relating to improvements in family functioning and relationships. Data shows improvements in all 6 self-reported subscales for young people, parents/ carers, and therapists; with all 6 subscales showing average scores exceeding 3 (a score of 3 and above indicating a clinically significant outcome). Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is a brief screening questionnaire used with children and young people aged between 11-17 years old. There are 5 subscales which explore positive and negative emotional and behavioural attributes including emotional wellbeing, conduct difficulties, hyperactivity/inattention, peer relationships and prosocial behaviours. Self-report questionnaires are completed by the referred youth, the youth’s
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Confidential parent/carer and the referring social worker; pre and post FFT intervention. The SDQ outcomes provide FFT Therapists with insight into a youth’s current emotional and behavioural functioning which will inform functional assessments and intervention plans and review outcomes post FFT. Overall Difficulties: Emotional Difficulties: Behavioural Difficulties:
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Confidential Hyperactive/ Concentration Difficulties: Peer Difficulties: Kind & Helpful Behaviours:
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Confidential Risk Levels: Summary: Parents/ carers reported improvements across all 7 subscales. Outcome data from SDQ measures show positive improvements across 5 out of 7 subscales for young people with scored on their views on their emotional difficulties staying the same and awareness of difficulties with Hyperactivity and concentration increasing. Unfortunately, due to continued difficulties getting questionnaires returned by referring social workers and educational psychologists we are not able to report on SDQ data from referrers. Outcome Questionnaire The Outcome Questionnaire 45 (OQ-45) is a brief scale used with parents/carers to measure the subjective experience of a person, as well as how they function in the world pre and post FFT intervention. Progress is tracked across three different domains including: • Symptom Distress: Measuring an individual's degree of subjective discomfort. • Interpersonal Relations: Measuring impairment in interpersonal functioning. • Social Role: Measuring impairment in functioning at work and in other social roles. Impact: • 54% of parents and carers reported symptoms of clinical significance pre FFT. • 61% of parents and carers reported clinically significant reductions in symptoms of distress from pre to post intervention. • 92% of parents and carers reported reductions in symptoms of distress from pre to post intervention. Likelihood of Accommodation: In addition to working to improve the well-being of young people and their families, FFT works to positively impact local communities by reducing the number of young people requiring care placements. Following on from the 2020 Independent Care Review and The Promise, FFT continues to be committed to improving the life outcomes for young people and their families by supporting young people to remain safely at home with their families while also reducing the associated costs to local authorities of young people requiring care placements. To support assessment of this all referring social workers and educational psychologists are asked to report on their views on the likelihood of a young person being accommodated pre and post intervention. Unfortunately, questionnaire return rates from social workers and educational psychologists remains lower than we would like at 27%. In addition to work to encourage higher return rates therapist have been emphasising as minimum referrals complete the risk of accommodation score. This approach has increased return rates of this measure to 55%. We will continue to work to improve return rates from referrers in the year ahead.
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Confidential In addition to the positive impact for young people and their families when they are supported to remain at home safely, the current FFT service costs are recovered when 2.6 young people are supported to avoid the need for foster care for 1 year, or 1 young person is supported to avoid the need for secure residential care for 19 weeks. 3 Month Total Cost Saving 6 Month Total Cost Saving 1 Year Total Cost Saving 1 x Young Person £11,837 (Foster) > £83,928 (Residential) £23,675 (Foster) > £167,856 (Residential) £51,296 (Foster) > £363,896 (Residential) (NB: estimates based on Secure Care Framework - £6994 per week and Fostering £986.45 per week ) Family Feedback “Well, the day has arrived that we have to say goodbye, I didn’t want to tell you, but I had a little cry. You’ve helped us so much so here’s a bear for you to hug.” (Young Person 8 y/o) “It has helped our family get together and be a happy health family.” (Young Person 11y/o) "Thank you for all your help and support over the time we have had with you. We will never forget anything we have learned from you and FFT."(Parent) “Many thanks for all you have done for our family, we all agreed that we enjoyed your visits and meeting you as a person, you are just lovely. You manage to bring us together and now we have so much positives to reflect on and we learning to apply what we learnt from you in daily activities.” (Parent) “I like having my son I know and love back.” (Parent) “I have learnt so much about myself and how I respond to things.” (Parent) Themes for families who did not progress to intervention: o 1 family; Despite repeated attempts to contact the family, no response was received and the case was therefore closed. Contact attempts were made between 24/06/25 and 29/07/25 and included telephone calls, voicemails, text messages, and written correspondence; however, no engagement was obtained. The Educational Psychologist who made the referral confirmed that the contact details held for Mum, including the address and telephone number, were correct. Despite this verification, no response was received from the family.
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Confidential o 1 family; Despite a number of initial visit dates being arranged by the FFT Therapist in collaboration with Social Work, the family did not make themselves available for visits for a variety of reasons. This occurred from the point of referral on 24/06/25 through to 29/07/26. o 1 family; The foster carer had given 28 days’ notice. Social Work and the FFT Therapist met with them to encourage engagement with FFT, highlighting the child’s permanence order and the potential detrimental impact of placement disruption. Despite this, the carer maintained their decision. o 1 family; Mum declined the service after initially agreeing to FFT. The Social Worker advised that mum did not wish to participate in FFT, as she felt they did not require the service. This was not the opinion of Social Work but unfortunately FFT could not proceed without family consent. o 1 family; A week after referral and allocation, the foster carer reported that improvements had been made within the placement and they no longer required the service at that time. It was agreed that FFT may be considered as a supportive intervention in the future should the need arise. Themes for families who did not complete intervention: o 1 family; Following five positive sessions, the young person reported an improvement in her relationship with her mother and subsequently disengaged from the intervention. Family were encouraged to complete the full intervention but having received a clinically significant dose of FFT family were closed and improvements recorded. o 1 family; Despite a positive start, the young person was placed into secure on care Friday 13th March 2026. The young person will remain in this secure placement for 3 months and there is no long term plan to return her to the care of her maternal grandparent. Trends & Observations Referral Intake - ARG: Over the past year, FFT has been included in the fortnightly ARG screening group. This development has supported improvements in referral quality and has reduced delays between referral, allocation, and first contact. Participation in the ARG screening group has enabled referrals to be discussed alongside senior managers and heads of service. This has provided a valuable forum for developing a shared understanding of thresholds and supporting timely, consistent decision-making. Feedback from educational psychology and social work managers and practitioners indicates that this collaborative approach has strengthened partnership working and resulted in more targeted and appropriate referrals to FFT. “We have found the referral route via ARG to be particularly helpful in identifying appropriate cases and your presence at these meetings Carrie has really helped us in this process. We look forward to continuing working with you to support our children and families.” (Ellen Moran, Principal Educational Psychologist, West Dunbartonshire Psychological Service.) Improvements in Referral Quality and Referral Pathway development: Improvements in referral quality can be quantified by the reduction in referrals that did not progress, from 11 in 2024–2025 to 5 in 2025–2026. This improvement has been achieved through the following developments: • FFT attending ARG screening group. This has supported improved referral quality and reduced delays between referral, allocation, and first contact. • Existing social workers and educational psychologists, as well as student and newly appointed social workers, continue to be welcomed to meet individually with FFT therapists as part of their induction. They are also invited to join FFT supervision sessions to increase awareness of the FFT service and referral pathway. • Regular case discussion sessions between the FFT Supervisor and both social workers and educational psychologists continue to take place. These remain valuable in supporting practitioners to prepare for the ARG process and in helping families to be appropriately prepared to begin FFT.
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Confidential Areas of growth in the year ahead: Social Work Team Drop-Ins and Case Consultations Plans are in place to implement regular drop-in sessions to social work teams throughout West Dunbartonshire. Drop- in sessions will offer time for case discussions, and to share information about FFT and the current referral pathway. FFT drop-ins have proven to be extremely successful in neighbouring Renfrewshire and East Dunbartonshire. Feedback from these authorities consists of social workers, especially new and newly qualified, saying that it helps them feel more confident in making a referral to FFT, being prepared for the referral process, and have also credited our highly experienced FFT Therapists for overall successful care planning for young people and families. The proposal of these monthly drop-in sessions has been taken up by Senior Social Worker Claire Strain-McCafferty. FFT Supervisor Carrie McKay has been asked to attend the Family Placement Team Fostering Service practice meeting on the 19th of May. This session will focus on exploring FFT’s role within care plans to support the team, while also keeping staff up to date about referral criteria, referral pathways, and the overall benefits of FFT involvement in highly complex cases. We will then discuss the format and frequency of drop-in sessions that would be most beneficial to the team. Looked after at home: Kinship FFT will continue to strengthen links with West Dunbartonshire Kinship Team to discuss potential cases, give input to care plans, give advice and guidance about how FFT can target specific referral behaviours and overall reduce risk of breakdown. This will also assist continued discussions about the importance of early identification of families and referrals to FFT to ensure we are getting in front of potential breakdown as much as possible and therefore achieve a successful outcome by sustaining the placement. The Scottish Government has produced a draft Vision for Kinship Care outlining its offer of support to kinship families. Rooted in the principles of the government’s pledge to Keep The Promise, one of the 5 foundations stipulates that “living with relatives or close family friends – is a vital way to maintain family life” and “It should be actively considered as an alternative place for children and young people to live if they cannot live with their birth parents.” The proposal goes on to state that “when well supported, children in kinship care feel settled and safe and experience strong continuity of relationships, schooling and community.” In FFT, our model is not only aligned with the foundations of The Promise, but our therapists actively work on the specific areas outlined and target these areas in a bespoke way for each and every family we work with and their circumstances. For example: Scaffolding, People & Voice: • In the generalization phase of our model, we will assess and work on ‘What are the School, Social/Peer, Community Risk Factors that need to be addressed?’ • We generalize change and ensure the family can respond in adaptive ways to new problems or can apply changes to other systems. • As many of our families have multiple providers and agencies involved, the Generalisation phase provides an opportunity to bring these systems together with the family to highlight progress made and ensure a shared understanding of how support will continue moving forward. Not only are we one of the third sector providers that play a key role in delivering the whole-family support (family & care foundations) that kinship families need and deserve, but through our many years of working in partnership with West Dunbartonshire Council, we have also played a leading role in the delivery of a strong multi-agency approach. There are regular case discussions about input into care planning, and guidance on how FFT can target specific referral behaviours to reduce the risk of placement breakdown. This collaborative approach has been positively received and is reflected in current activity, with 5 open cases being jointly supported. Adoption & Fostering:
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Confidential With enquiries and referrals related to potential foster and adoption breakdowns in West Dunbartonshire continuing to be steady, collaboration with the Fostering and Adoption Team has remained a priority—as stated above, FFT Supervisor Carrie McKay has been asked to attend the Family Placement Team Fostering Service practice meeting on the 19th of May. Priority will also be given to establishing whether any pre- and post-adoption support groups are currently delivered within West Dunbartonshire. In neighbouring Renfrewshire, the FFT Supervisor has been delivering information sessions to prospective adopters as part of the adoption preparation group. Feedback has been consistently positive, and discussions are ongoing regarding the formal embedding of FFT input within Renfrewshire’s pre- and post-adoption support services. From prospective adopters - “It was great to hear from workers working at the other end of adoption”. “Really enjoyed hearing the real-life examples from Carrie’s team”. “It was good to know there is support out there.” Close to Home: A training module has been put together to support local authorities work supporting young people who are currently accommodated to return to their families and communities where this is appropriate. The training module explores: • The Independent Care Review and The Promise- What did we learn? • Building parent’s and carer’s confidence. • Repairing relationships • Gathering family members views and increasing motivation for rehabilitation home. • Examples of multi-agency support plans. • Examples of rehab home plans. • Uniting care staff and parents/ carers to have a shared goal. • Barriers to returning home and overcoming these. • How FFT can support rehabilitation home plans. Supporting Renfrewshire Young People out of Area: FFT covers 8 local authorities in Scotland meaning that we are also able to work with children and young people that are currently placed out with the Renfrewshire area. Homelessness With Housing (Scotland) Bill progressing through parliament, FFT has been approached by a number of local authorities to discuss how FFT’s model of preventing family breakdown could be used to support a reduction in under 18’s requiring homeless accommodation. FFT have secured funding for a bespoke homeless prevention therapist for Clackmannanshire and would be happy to explore if West Dunbartonshire could benefit from a similar focus for their FFT provision. A report from The New System Alliance and The Relationships Project (2023) highlights as a key theme that “what is needed is not just systems, but relationships” in tackling homelessness. This reflects a shift away from purely transactional forms of support (such as housing and benefits) towards more relational, person-centred approaches. The report further emphasises that while safe and stable housing is essential, true and lasting stability also requires the restoration of family and social connections, the rebuilding of trust, and the development of a sense of belonging. Educational Psychology: Educational psychology staff continue to make good use of case consultation prior to completing ARG referrals. Referrals from educational psychology equate to 17.6% of referrals for the year.
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Confidential Family Fund in Partnership with Nationwide: Action for Children are currently working in partnership with Nationwide Building Society. They have launched a three- year partnership to tackle child poverty and Nationwide have contributed £9 million to Action for Children’s Enrichment and Crisis Funds. FFT has made use of this fund to support families in West Dunbartonshire with a range of needs including: • Supermarket vouchers to support with families accessing food • Washing Machines • New beds and sofa beds • Desks • Clothing
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