Helen Lincoln, Chair of the ADCS Families, Communities & 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. The process evaluation report outlines a number of positive developments from the pilot, such as building better relationships and sharing of knowledge; it is important that where we find effective practice that is evidence based, it can benefit all children and families. 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. 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.”

ENDS