When a family falls into crisis -- and it sometimes happens, thanks to unemployment, drugs, bad relationships and bad luck -- the social services system is supposed to step in and help them get back on track. As Hilary Cottam shows, in the UK a typical family in crisis can be eligible for services from more than 70 different agencies, but it's unlikely that any one of them can really make a difference. Cottam, a social entrepreneur herself, asks us to think about the ways we solve deep and complex social problems. How can we build supportive, enthusiastic relationships between those in need and those that provide help?

Hilary Cottam: Social services are broken. How we can fix them

Social services are broken. How we can fix them

Loneliness outpaces a lifetime of smoking as a larger mortality risk. In the UK, 1 in 3 over 60s may go a week without speaking to anyone.

A staggering £250,000 per year is spent on managing, not solving, the crisis of families like Ella's, with no tangible improvement.

Circle transforms elder care by blending technology with human connection, fostering friendships that eclipse the need for services.