care proceedings reforms:

CARE PROCEEDINGS REFORMS:

An Overview

Statutory Guidance and Public Law Outline Training

CONTEXT• Over 14,000 applications (by child) for care or supervision order

each year

• More than 60% of care proceedings involve children under six years of age

• Cases frequently take longer than 12 months to reach a conclusion…and the longer it takes, the longer a child has to wait for a decision as to their future

• These children, and their families, are some of the most vulnerable and socially excluded people in our society


CASE FOR CHANGE

Care Review (May 2006) found unnecessary delay

caused by complex set of drivers:– poorly prepared court applications;

– ineffective case management;

– scarcity of judicial resources;

– variation in quality of representation;

– expert evidence that takes a long time to commission and/or is requested late and/or does not provide suitable

guidance for the court;

– late allocation of the children’s guardian;

– alternative carers emerging late in proceedings;

– variations in regional practice.


CARE REVIEW RECOMMENDATIONS

The Review of the Child Care Proceedings System in England and

Wales (May 2006) highlighted five key areas for attention:

– Helping families - ensuring families and children understand proceedings

– Better informed resolution - ensuring applications are made after all safe and appropriate alternatives have been explored

– Preparation for proceedings - improving the quality and consistency of applications

– During proceedings - improved case management– Inter-agency working - ensuring closer professional relationships


KEY REFORMS

• Volume 1 (Court Orders) Children Act 1989 Guidance and Regulations– revised statutory guidance for local authorities, issued by the

Department for Children, Schools and Families and Welsh Assembly Government

– issued under the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970

• Public Law Outline– replacing the current Protocol for Judicial Case Management– setting out how cases will be managed through the courts


STATUTORY GUIDANCEKey changes:

– ensuring core assessments are completed

– access to pre-proceedings legal advice

– front-loaded preparation: emphasis on pre-proceedings work by local authorities


Public Law Outline (PLO)Key changes:

– Four stages, rather than six

– Advocates’ meetings

– Timetables focussed around the needs of the child

– Cafcass/Cafcass Cymru analysis and recommendations


STATUTORY GUIDANCE


Relevant training materials

• Section 2, training packs:

– pre-proceedings flowchart

– slides

– chapter 3, Volume 1 (Court Orders) Children Act 1989 guidance and regulations

– template ‘letter before proceedings’


Structure of the guidance

• Chapter 3 - care and supervision - supports the PLO

• But we must not forget the other chapters, which reflect case law and policy developments:– Chapter 1 - introduction– Chapter 2 - private law– Chapter 4 - emergency provisions– Chapter 5 - secure accommodation


Engaging with families• Good evidence-based assessments

• No ‘surprises’ about the issues

– parents fully involved and informed about the possibility of proceedings

• Plans in plain written terms

– explained to families and children

• Effective communication with children and families– tailored to their needs


Engaging with families• Clarity of expectations and consequences

• Identifying all significant adults in the child’s family and their role– completing appropriate kinship assessments

• Quality initial and core assessments

– good quality, ensuring core social work takes place


Preparing for proceedings• Legal planning/gateway meetings - determining whether

it is appropriate to issue a ‘letter before proceedings’

• Letters before proceedings - tailored for each individual case

• Entitlement to pre-proceedings legal advice - parents/those with parental responsibility

• Meeting with parents, advocates and local authority

• Completion of the pre-proceedings checklist


Pre-proceedings checklistFrom local authority files:

– previous courts orders and judgments/reasons– initial and core assessments– section 7/37 reports– relatives and friends materials – single, joint or inter-agency materials

(e.g. immigration/health)– pre-existing care plans– letter before proceedings

To be prepared:– social work chronology– initial social work statement– care plan– allocation record and timetable for the child

– schedule of proposed findings


Implementation planning• Work with other local authorities and agencies to look

at the implications

• Consideration of how local authority processes fit with the pre-proceedings work, e.g. resource panels and planning interventions for children

• Clarity internally about the resources available for working with the family and child at each stage


PUBLIC LAW OUTLINE


Relevant training materials• Section 3, training packs:

– flowchart showing the court process– Practice Direction from the President of the Family Division, to be

used by all parties as a case management tool– Public Law Outline, pages 9-11 of the Practice Direction– supplementary application form: PLO1 (Annex A)– local authority case summary form (Annex B)– draft case management order (Annex C)

• Section 4, training packs:– Cafcass/Cafcass Cymru guidance for completion of the analysis

and recommendations


Pre-proceedings checklist• Checklist documentation should be filed, together with the

supplementary application form - PLO1

• Balance - if the safety and welfare of the child means an application needs to be made immediately, local authorities should not wait until all of the documentation has been prepared

• The court will review the application and checklist - standard directions will be given on issue, requesting any missing checklist materials and covering matters such as the appointment of the Children’s Guardian


Allocation record• To be filed with the pre-proceedings checklist

• No standard form - it should be produced by the local authority

• It must include a proposal about which level of court the case should be heard at

• The court will review this and make a decision about allocation - space should be provided for the court’s decision in the allocation record


Timetable for the child• Set by the court - and reviewed at all the PLO stages

• Will take account of all significant steps in the child’s life that are likely to take place during proceedings - including legal, social care, health and education steps

• Examples:– starting a new school– assessments– change in the child’s placement


Streamlined process• Six stages reduced to four:

– Issue and First Appointment - to allocate and give initial case management directions

– Advocates’ meeting and Case Management Conference (CMC) - to identify issues and give full case management directions

– Advocates’ meeting and Issues Resolution Hearing (IRH) to resolve, narrow and identify and remaining issues

– Final Hearing - to determine remaining issues


Issue focus

• Each stage of the PLO:– focused on identifying, narrowing and resolving the key

issues in the case– e.g. drink, drugs, violence

• The focus should be on those issues that need to be resolved and determined by the court


Advocates’ meetings• Only advocates and litigants in person should attend

these meetings

• To consider issues in the case at least two days before the CMC or IRH

• Completion of the draft case management order - to be filed by the local authority at least one day before the hearing - identifying the key issues in the case

• Emphasis on co-operation


Experts• There will be a separate Practice Direction on how

and when experts will be appointed in court proceedings

• The appointment of an expert is a matter to be determined by the court

• An expert’s report should not take the place of core social work - e.g. initial and core assessments, and assessment of family members as carers


Cafcass/Cafcass Cymru analysis and recommendations• Incremental analysis and reporting in order to

help the court focus on the key issues in the case

• Initial analysis and recommendations at day six will be built upon for the CMC and IRH

• The final report is replaced by a final analysis and recommendations, which is a sum of the earlier analysis


PLENARY SESSION


Action planning - considerations• Training - how and when will it be cascaded to peers

and colleagues

• Inter-agency working - who do you need to work with to make this a reality

• Impact assessment - e.g. what working practices/structures may need to change

• Implementation planning


care proceedings reforms:

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care proceedings reforms

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