A programme to turn around troubled families in Bucks is making good progress, according to the county council.
The Bucks Herald reported in December that the county version of the government programme Families First was taking a more long-term approach rather than finding a quick fix.
So it was not concerned by an 8% success rate at the half-way stage.
But now, having worked with 526 of an identified 545, it is beginning to see results.
A single mum of three with a physical disability was identified as needing help dealing with her truanting, teenage daughter.
But with the help of Families First and its ‘praise and encouragement’ approach, she has found the confidence to manage her daughter, leave the house and take courses to land a job.
She said: “Without them, I wouldn’t be here today. They give you that push to tell you ‘yes that is the right way to deal with it’.
“My disability makes it hard and when we’re arguing, she’d get on my vulnerable points. You couldn’t put your finger on what is wrong with her.”
The woman described her daughter as having a ‘nonstop motor brain’ and discovered she had got involved with inappropriate use of online webcams.
She said: “They (Families First) really understand what you are going through and nothing is too much trouble for them.
“They did tell me I was walking before I could crawl but now I’ve got a BTEC and I want to help families myself.”