As expected, the latest figures from Cafcass show the high rate of care referrals (which some have attributed to the ‘Baby P effect’) continued throughout 2012, with applications from April to December up 8% on the same period in 2011. Between April and December last year the family courts body received 8,135 referrals, while the [...]
A group of 32 children and young people with experience of or interest in the family courts have compiled their top five wishes for the family justice system in 2013. The Family Justice System Young People’s Board was set up by family courts body Cafcass to advise on policy issues. Here are their top five wishes: 1. [...]
If children are to get a better deal from the family courts, reform must extend throughout the care system, writes Cafcass chief executive Anthony Douglas Very few things in life are entirely rightor entirely wrong; a complete success or total disaster. In social work,however, half truths and partial solutions are often portrayed asuniversally positive outcomes. [...]
Family court judge Penny Reeves explains what judges expect from social workers in the family courts, and how her two expert guides for Community Care Inform can help social workers meet those expectations Taking a care case to court is, perhaps, one of the most stressful parts of a social worker’s role. It could be [...]
Social workers who work regularly in the family courts must have: a strong grounding in child development, a good understanding of effective, evidence-based family interventions, the ability to produce high quality statements, chronologies and court reports and the skills to present evidence in court. That might sound rather obvious to experienced practitioners, but these core [...]
There was much of interest in the family justice session at the National Children and Adults Services conference in Eastbourne today, like a proposed family court social work model (more soon), but it was Anthony Douglas’ comment that court social workers ’look like service users’ that’s generated the most chatter on social media. The Cafcass chief said some social [...]
One of the problems David Norgrove found when leading his review into the family justice system in England and Wales was an ‘institutional lack of trust’ in local authority social work, and tension between the different professionals who work within the system – social workers, solicitors, children’s guardians, barristers. We hear the same thing at [...]
Research by Community Care and the NSPCC has revealed social workers often struggle to evidence neglect cases in court. Here, child protection lawyer Rebecca Stevens* advises social workers on how best to prepare and present their evidence As a child protection lawyer dealing with neglect cases at court on a daily basis, I often hear [...]
There’s going to be a lot of family justice expertise among the new children’s social care ministers. Two of Cameron’s new appointments are former family barristers – children’s minister Edward Timpson and the latest addition to the MOJ, Helen Grant. Timpson, MP for Crewe and Nantwich and son of businessman John Timpson, has been given responsibility for [...]
Over the years I’ve grown accustomed to ever more bizarre social work stories surfacing in the media during ‘silly season’ and, every year, I’m used to the moral dilemma of whether we should even dignify them with a response, writes Nushra Mansuri, professional officer at the British Association of Social Workers. But this year I have [...]
The Children's Services blog covers the latest news, views, gossip and analysis in children’s social care. It is aimed at professionals working with these children, young people and their families.
It is written by Community Care’s children's beat editor Camilla Pemberton.
Email: Camilla Pemberton
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