Family Psychology Mutual received funding from the Youth Endowment Fund round one (YEF) to trial Functional Family Therapy (Gangs) in collaboration with the London Borough of Redbridge. This will be the first team to be established outside of the USA following a trial in Philadelphia which found that the FFT Gang intervention significantly reduce criminal activity among youth at high risk of joining gangs. In 2020, FPM received further funding beyond the initial grant period offered by the YEF. There is also an independent evaluated by Greenwich University via a randomised control trial (RCT). 

The team are embedded with the Redbridge Family Intervention Team (FIT) where they are working in a close interagency collaboration with social care, youth offending and early help.  

The team are highly orientated towards partnership working and alert to the risks of contextual safeguarding issues with county lines. The risks that young people face is largely outside of the family home. However, working systemically and building better communication skills for a strong family base creates protective support for young people that ultimately aims to improve their chances of resisting the pressures of criminal exploitation. 

It is anticipated that once the adaptation has achieved good outcome data it will be ready for wider dissemination and upscaling.