Interdisciplinary Alliance for Children call for Cafcass to be reformed

The Interdisciplinary Alliance for Children (IAC) has sent government ministers with responsibility for justice or children's welfare a joint position statement setting out their concerns about the services currently being provided by Cafcass.

The alliance of eighteen legal, medical and child care organisations questions whether the Cafcass model of service delivery is either the most effective in terms of outcomes for the vulnerable children involved or the most cost effective use of all the available resources both human and financial.

The statement comes after the Nation Audit Office criticised Cafcass in a report earlier this week and it was announcement that the advisory service is being referred to the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee.

The IAC has also sent the statement to Alan Beith, the Chair of the Parliamentary Justice Committee as part of the evidence for the forthcoming enquiry into the Family Justice System, David Norgrove, the Chair of the Family Justice Review, Professor Eileen Munro who is heading the Government Enquiry into Child Protection and Baroness Massey and other members of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Children.