A more coordinated approach to providing services to at-risk families will promote efficiency and save taxpayers? money, according to Health and Family Services Minister Patrice Minors.

She announced the initiative this week as part of a more detailed explanation of a number of key initiatives in the Throne Speech.

Mrs. Minors said that a cross-ministry initiative team is being put together, which will include the departments of Financial Assistance, Child and Family Services, and Court Services, the Ministries of Health and Family Services, Works and Engineering and Housing, plus the Bermuda Housing Corporation.

The team, called CMIT, is a response to a recent review of families involved with the helping services, said the Minister, which showed that more than 100 families were involved with two or more of the agencies and departments, and utilised a substantial proportion of the resources of each.

In some cases, as a result of approaching each agency in isolation, duplication of services and resources had occurred.

The new team will work in collaboration with families exhibiting behaviour that could lead to them being evicted from their rental accommodations, provide more effective case management, and ensure no family is receiving duplicate services, explained Mrs. Minors.

She used as an example the fact that a family on Financial Assistance, which is also a tenant of the Bermuda Housing Corporation, and under a court order for their children to be supervised by the Director of Child and Family Services, would be using the resources of three separate supervisors, social workers, and social work assistants.

Under the new system, the same family will have just one case plan that incorporates input from all the services involved, with one supervisor overseeing the whole case, plus one social worker and one social work assistant.

?As a result of this, the per household cost to the taxpayer will be greatly reduced.

?The programme will reduce the burden to the taxpayer and more importantly, the outcomes for the family are expected to be even greater,? said the Minister.

Families being overseen by CMIT will be required to complete mandatory programmes including budget counselling, parenting and life skills.

During this stage, the Ministry of Health and Family Services will guarantee the rent and basic needs of the family, if the programme involvement will interrupt their earning ability.

?This will make certain that no family involved with this programme will face eviction as a result of full participation. It is important to note that this is not a ?joy ride? or ?be-all-end-all? for any family. They must be actively involved in the programme to receive the benefits of it,? said Mrs. Minors.

The idea is that the family will complete all aspects of the agreed case plan, pay off their arrears and then be supported in progressing on their own by the CMIT team.

The minister also outlined a range of other initiatives including the replacement of the Salvation Army emergency shelter on North Street with a new night shelter and rooming house which will be capable of housing up to 200 people.

And a Multi-Addictions Conference to be held by the Ministry of Health and Family Services in March 2006 will include a forum on gang violence, as part of a wider focus on young offenders.