Specialist staff are to be put into Angus schools in a bid to help growing numbers of children and their families escape the area’s escalating poverty trap.
It will see welfare rights experts work initially at five schools in the most deprived areas of Angus.
And a leading official has promised they will “move heaven and earth” to see the help directed where it is needed most.
The £200,000 programme is being funded with Scottish Government cash provided to local authorities for coronavirus recovery programmes.
Experts will build relationships with families through the schools to help deliver debt and welfare advice and support.
They will also seek to help families in complex situations such as court cases and evictions.
Angus child poverty expected to rise
The 59 Angus schools have 15,263 pupils, not including nursery and early years places.
Latest child poverty figures show that 4,273 Angus children are living in poverty.
And levels are expected to increase further.
The new scheme, welcomed by policy and resources councillors, is the first stage of a two-year test of change project.
Dedicated financial wellbeing staff will deliver crisis intervention for families in need.
Finance official Victoria Gibbons said: “This will involve ensuring all entitlements are claimed, benefit decisions challenged where appropriate and debt advice and intervention given.
“Data currently held has influenced where we will look to commence the project.”
But she said work still has to be done to reach families.
“Analysis of data from welfare rights case recording systems illustrated that only 20% of people helped every year have school-aged children in the household.
“This tells us that we are not reaching many families in Angus despite targeted social media campaigns and raising awareness through other avenues.”
“The intention will be for the project staff to be dynamic and respond to need across the initial five schools.
“This is about adapting and enhancing services to meet the needs of families most at risk of financial crisis.”
Concerns over access to support
Officials did not detail the five first phase schools.
But council depute chief executive Mark Armstrong’s promise to target the work where it is most needed followed concerns around the possibility of some families slipping through the net.
Arbroath Independent councillor Lois Speed said: “I’m supportive of the report but share concerns around accessibility.
She asked how families who are either not accessing school at present, or have connectivity issues will be able to reach the vital support.
“Families can be experiencing crisis and that can change and worsen virtually overnight,” said Ms Speed.
“It’s crucial families facing difficulties feel that there is no stigma to actually presenting at the door.”
Mr Armstrong said: “The agencies working together to deliver this are working to make sure this is as barrier-free as possible.
“I don’t see thee being a risk there.
“They will move heaven and earth to access the families needing this support.”
Performance indicators
The success of the scheme will be judged on a number of factors.
Those will include the number of families assisted and total financial gains achieved.
The number of new children taking up school meals, education maintenance allowances and school clothing grants will be recorded.
Ms Gibbons said: “There will also be ‘softer’ outcomes reported by way of case studies and school/head teacher surveys.
“It is not possible to say definitively what the projected outputs will be in relation to numbers of families who will be assisted because this will depend on demand.
“However, we would project that in the first year 200- 300 families would be assisted with financial issues.
“During the course of the second year it is envisaged this will increase to helping at least 400 families as the project rolls out across more schools and less time is needed for development work.”