FUNDING totalling £1.5 million has been secured by Gloucestershire County Council to transform support for vulnerable young people and their families.

The county council has been working with NHS Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group, 2gether NHS Foundation Trust, Prospects and Families First to explore new ways of working together, combining social care, youth justice and mental health services.

The additional Department for Education Innovation funding will help the county council and its partners develop this thinking and trial a new way of working in Gloucestershire, with a particular focus on changing the way we work with vulnerable young people aged 11 and over who are in need of protection or are in or on the edge of going into care.

The aim is to create teams of professionals including social workers, youth support, youth offending workers and mental health workers, so that families get the specialist support they need.

It is estimated that around 2300 young people and their families could benefit from the service.

Councillor Paul McLain, cabinet member for children and young people, said: “We are pleased that we have been awarded this funding from the Department for Education. It will help pave the way for closer joined-up working, ensuring that vulnerable families get the right support at the right time.

“Every family and every child is different and there is no one-size-fits-all approach. We need to keep being radical in our thinking and develop our wide variety of expertise. This will help us change the lives of some of the most vulnerable young people and their families in the county.”