New family court model will need more social workers to succeed
More social workers will be needed if the rollout of a new model aimed at making private family court cases swifter, safer and less adversarial is to succeed.
The government last month (March) announced a £17 million national rollout in England and Wales of Child Focused Courts following trial pathfinders.
The move was welcomed as a “game changer” by the outgoing president of the Family Division of the High Court Sir Andrew McFarlane.
A key difference of the new model is that information gathering and engagement with parents happens earlier rather than through multiple court hearings which can cause delay.
It also aims to prioritise the safety and wellbeing of children through the creation of a new Child Impact Report produced by social workers.
These will “front load” information, including any safeguarding concerns, and be produced by practitioners within the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass).
However, feedback from the pathfinders launched in 2022 has highlight this places extra pressure on social workers to gather information at an earlier stage.
It also places greater reliance on professional judgement within tight timeframes.
Cafcass has already indicated that it will need an extra 200 social workers to support the national rollout.
And the Association of Lawyers for Children warned the new system must come with funding for the “chronically under-resourced” legal aid scheme and the family courts.
Cafcass relies heavily on self-employed social workers contracted as Associate Family Court Advisers to carry out court work.
However, BASW England warned poor fees paid to social workers compared to other professionals doing court work was an issue that needed to be addressed.
National director Andrew Reece said: “Qualified social work associates are paid £35 an hour while midwives £83, nursing experts £75, physiotherapists £74 and speech therapists £91.
“The actual hourly rate for social workers is about half this when you factor in preparation time and unpaid travel.
“So while we welcome plans to make courts more child-focused, we query where the extra social workers will come from when our self-employed independent members tell us they simply can’t break even at these rates of pay.”
The rollout follows ten pilots, including the West Midlands, West Yorkshire and all of Wales.
The initial rollout will be in Northumbria and North Durham, Cleveland and South Durham, Lancashire, Cumbria, York and North Yorkshire, Cheshire and Merseyside, Northamptonshire, and Coventry and Warwickshire.
Deputy prime minister and justice secretary David Lammy said the new model would reduce families waiting in limbo.
He added: “It will protect, support and hear the voices of children, helping family courts make safe and fair decisions without delay.”
Domestic abuse commissioner Dame Nicole Jacobs said: “This approach has shown that when we put children first, victims feel more supported and re-traumatisation is reduced.”