Report urges wider use of Family Drug and Alcohol Court process

An independent evaluation of the pilot Family Drug and Alcohol Court (FDAC) has found that parents who have been through this process were more likely to be reunited with their children.

The evaluation by the Nuffield Foundation found that parents involved with FDAC were more likely to stop misusing substances than were those involved in conventional care proceedings.

In addition, fewer cases of neglect or abuse arose in the subsequent year than in reunited families who had been through ordinary care proceedings.

The report recommended that FDAC should be used more widely and called for greater support for reunited families when care proceedings finish, and for cases to finish more quickly when parents do not engage with the process.

FDAC is used when parental substance misuse is causing harm to children, an issue in up to two thirds of all care proceedings.

Parents see the same judge every fortnight and receive support from a multi-disciplinary team, which helps them access substance misuse services and provides assistance in tackling other problems such as housing, domestic violence and financial hardship.

Professor Judith Harwin, who led the work, found 40% of mothers who went through the pilot stopped misusing substances, against only 25% in normal care proceedings – the equivalent rates for fathers were 25% and 5%.

After being on the pilot 35% of mothers were reunited with their children, compared to 19% in ordinary care proceedings, and neglect rates after one year were 25% and 56% respectively.

But where reunification was not possible, FDAC proved no quicker in achieving alternative permanent placement than ordinary proceedings, at 62 weeks in both cases.

Professor Harwin said: “Our findings show FDAC is effective in helping to break the cycle of harm caused by parental substance misuse.”

There has also been enthusiasm from the judiciary. District Judge Nick Crichton said, who has pioneered the FDAC approach, said: “This evaluation shows that swift access to integrated support services helps parents control their substance misuse and be reunited with their children.

“We now need to see a better system for tracking outcomes of these cases, which will give the court clearer information and improve feedback to local authorities.”

Sitting in a recent county court case in Bournemouth, in which he made significant comments on the 26-week time limit for care proceedings, Family Division President Sir James Munby said: “The FDAC approach is crucially important. The simple reality is that FDAC works. District Judge Crichton has shown what can be achieved for children and their parents even in the most unpromising circumstances. FDAC is, it must be, a vital component in the new Family Court.”

A copy of the Nuffield Foundation’s report can be viewed here.