News and Events

Is the Child Protection System fit for Purpose?

Proposed Multi Disciplinary Conference, 1st June 2015.

Please see this post from the Transparency Project.

Policing Parents, Protecting Children and Promoting Adoption: Do we get the child protection system we deserve?

The Transparency Project is pleased to announce a proposal for a multi-discliplinary conference, provisionally arranged for 1st June 2015, which will invite views and perspectives from experts, lawyers, social workers, parents and care leavers in an attempt to re-position the current unhealthily polarised debate around the child protection system.
We hope to be joined by Dr Lauren Devine of UWE who is currently undertaking research into the evidence base for our current system and by Brigid Featherstone, co-author of ‘Re Imagining Child Protection’.
The venue and full list of speakers will be confirmed over the coming months.
If you are interested and would like to be kept informed about developments, or if you have any suggestions for topics or speakers please contact [email protected]

EDIT – Topics for afternoon discussion

Suggestions are coming in for the issues most likely require debate/discussion. Please feel free to contact us to add more.

Section 20 agreements – the drift and delay problems. Are there adequate mechanisms in place for review of these? What’s the IRO doing?
The anti-authoritarian parent – does disagreeing with or failing to co-operate with a social worker equate to being a ‘bad parent’? What can be done to improve relationships between parents and social workers? These issues are highlighted in the recent Hertfordshire case and discussions over at suesspcious minds.
Perception of experts as independent – what should happen if experts in a case are on a ‘paid retainer’ with a LA? also an issue raised in the Hertfordshire case above.
Problems with ‘working together’ – example of recent disjunction between family and housing law discussed by Nearly Legal. How do we make sure family courts have the best information about issues they may not be familiar with nor fully understand?
Opening up the family courts – the impact on children. Is it likely to be a serious as some fear? What lessons can we learn from other jurisdictions?

End of Year Review 2014

How did we do? What else can we do?

We think our first nine months have shown a clear demand for this site – and worryingly that some of the most popular searches and posts have been do to with section 20 agreements, which suggests that these are both widespread and not well understood or explained.

We hope to expand the activities of the site next year – The Transparency Project will be hosting a multi-disciplinary conference on June 1st, asking if the child protection system is fit for purpose. CPR will also be going to the 2nd Joint Nordic Conference in Helskini in June where Sarah Phillimore will deliver a paper entitled ‘The courage to communicate and the necessary building of relationships between social workers and parents.’

Please let us know what we could be doing better/differently/more or less.

Contact us at [email protected] or via Twitter @C_P_Resource.

This site would not have been possible without the very generous contributions of their time and expertise from a great many people in many different fields. As ever, enormous thanks and gratitude is due to them all.

Overview 1st March – 22 December 2014

Sessions 35,119
Users 25,742
Pageviews 60,763
Pages / Session 1.73
Avg. Session Duration 00:02:25
Bounce Rate 75.07%
% New Sessions 72.68%
New Visitor/Returning Visitor 27.3%/72.7%

Where did our audience come from?

We had visitors from all over the world, but the vast majority from the UK, as reflects the site’s content.

United Kingdom 31,158 (89%)
United States 1,418 (4%)
Australia 371 (1%)
Ireland 232 (0.66%)
Canada 217 (0.62%)
Brazil 193 (0.55%)
Netherlands 108 (0.31%)
Germany 78 (0.22%)
Finland 74 (0.21%)
France 74 (0.21%)

Where in the UK?

London 8,579 (24%)
Bristol 1,551(4.%)
Manchester 843 (2.%)
(not set) 796 (2.%)
Birmingham 712 (2.%)
Newcastle upon Tyne 683 (2%)
Liverpool 582 (2%)
Leeds 546 (1%)
Cardiff 504 (1%)
Sheffield 417 (1%)

How did people find us?

71% of traffic came from internet searches. Other sites have linked to us.

mumsnet.com 1,943 (33%)
Facebook 1,198 (20%)
Twitter 1,066 (18.%)
suesspiciousminds.com 290 (5%)
netmums.com 213 (4%)
familylawweek.co.uk 81 (1%)

What did they want to read about?

What posts were the most popular?

The most popular was not set at 8,817 views (15%).

category/the-law/key-legal-principles/section-20-agreements/ 4,087 (7%)
tag/interim-care-orders-2/ 2,879 (5%)
forced-adoption/ 2,459 (4%)
category/the-law/key-legal-principles/threshold-criteria/ 2,311 (4%)
If I report mental health issues / 2,093 (3%)
category/the-law/key-legal-principles/interim-care-orders/ 1,627 (3%)
category/the-law/key-legal-principles/significant-harm-key-legal-principles/ 1,591 (3%)
common-concerns-we-hear-from-parents/ 1,521 (3%)
category/placement-and-adoption-orders/ 1,057 (2%)

Charity helping families stay together faces closure

On December 16th we got an email from someone who has been helped by Families in Care and who is very worried that they might close due to lack of funding. This is just the kind of initiative that could help people all around the country and we hope that it can achieve its fundraising goal.

Happy Christmas EDIT! as of 22nd December, the charity has raised £5K!

She writes:

This is a very small charity which supports, advocates, and advises North East families who are faced with Child Protection Proceedings. It is a very unique charity, but without which my child would not be in my care now. From the first day I contacted them for help … they have advocated for me – fought my corner when I could not, came to every court hearing – and sat holding my hand throughout – and every meeting with the LA, held me up through the darkest of days when it seemed like all hope was lost … and taught me to put one foot in front of the other and keep going. I receive weekly counselling… Pat, the CEO, has taught me mindfulness, assertiveness, and her unwavering belief in me has had an enormous impact on my self esteem.

Pat has given me confidence enough to apply to University to retrain as a Social Worker, with a view to working as an advocate for Families In Care, and for parents that cannot do it for themselves… Each member of the team has been there day and night, weekdays, weekends and holidays. They have students – both Law and Social Work – who come in on placement, and many stay on to volunteer… There is a Parents Group for parents who have lost children to adoption, gently supporting them through their own disenfranchised grief process, and Families In Care help parents with Letter Box Contact.

I truly believe this service should be rolled out nationwide and intend to dedicate the rest of my working life to that end. In short, this is a rare gem, a beacon of hope to parents faced with the most horrifying of times.

However, Families In Care are struggling. Having had their funding removed from a particular source, they are now in a position where they face imminent closure. This just cannot happen. It just can’t. So many families rely on their presence, their hands to hold, and their commitment to ensuring parents are heard and fairly treated.

Families In Care have made an Urgent Christmas Appeal for help. They need £3,000 before January 2015 or they will close.

Family Law Class at the Bristol Civil Justice Centre

The Bristol Civil Justice Centre is going to be trying different ways to help people involved in family law cases who can’t get access to legal representation or who want to understand more about what is going on .

One part of this initiative is the proposal for ‘Family Law Classes’ The first will be held on 4 December 2014 from 10:30 -12 noon.

HHJ Wildblood QC, some lawyers and some Court staff will hold a meeting for members of the public at which they will explain the law and procedure

The class will take place in Court 2, 2^nd floor,

Bristol Civil and Family Justice Centre, 2 Redcliff Street, Bristol, BS1 6GR.

Please e-mail [email protected] if you would like to attend the class.

Disclaimer

Please note that whilst we can give an overview of family law and explain court processes and forms, we cannot give legal advice on individual cases.