Praise but no funding for troubled teen service Families First

A therapy service that claims huge success with troubled teens is in danger of closure because it is almost entirely reliant on charity despite getting most of its referrals from State agencies.

The Families First programme run by the Archways initiative is funded mainly by Atlantic Philanthropies, which is withdrawing from Ireland next year, leaving huge uncertainty over the future of the service.

Therapist, Alice Ann Lee, said the State had yet to commit any significant funding to Families First despite the fact that 84% of the referrals to the programme came from state agencies.