Report calls for greater use of pre-case management hearing meetings in care proceedings
A report sponsored by the Department for Education and the National Children’s Bureau has recommended wider use of pre-case management hearing (CMH) meetings to reduce the backlog in the family courts.
But the Association of Directors of Children’s Service (ADCS) said greater Government investment in the system was needed if all areas were to benefit from what had been learnt.
The Pre-CMH Scoping Pilot Final Report looked at a pilot of early conversations between the social worker and children's guardian concerned and to explore the impact on the effectiveness of a subsequent CMH.
These meetings were seen as a means of formalising good practice and providing structure, consistency and transparency to conversations at the start of care proceedings.
Consultancy Research in Practice’s assessment said such early conversations were “recognised as good, standard practice, albeit that such practice may have drifted over time, so the proposition was uncontroversial in concept”.
Potential benefits included creating space to share information, ask questions and clarify any gaps in assessment, arriving better prepared at hearings and reducing repetitive assessments.
The pilot comprised 23 sites and a total of 108 Pre-CMH meetings, which were considered helpful by the majority of participants, many of whom intended to continue using the meetings after the pilot ended.
A majority were optimistic about the potential of the meetings to build professional relationships and improve understanding about the family history and circumstances.
The main areas of contention concerned the extent to which positions and expert assessments should be discussed during the Pre-CMH meeting.
While some principles existed about what may be in scope for the meeting, “participant feedback indicates that these boundaries were not always maintained in practice”.
The study recommended that a wider pool of local authorities should test how the Pre-CMH meeting works in a variety of contexts and a larger sample of legal representatives, magistrates and judiciary should be involved.
Helen Lincoln, chair of the ADCS’s families, communities and young people policy committee, said: “The backlog we are experiencing in the family courts and the length of time care proceedings are taking does not serve children’s best interests and ADCS welcomes all efforts to improve the process and make it less adversarial.
“We know that timeliness is important to children in progressing permanence plans and we are all committed to doing this as best we can, however, our main aim should always be meeting the individual needs of a child or young person.”
Lincoln said the report had found a number of positive developments, and “elsewhere, we are seeing some positive developments within the family justice system, for example the continued impact of the Public Law Outline on reducing applications for care and supervision orders”.
She concluded: “This demonstrates what can be achieved but we need government to commit greater investment in the system so that all areas can benefit from what works if we are to see lasting change.”
Mark Smulian
