Our articles are written by experts in their field and include barristers, solicitors, judges, mediators, academics and professionals from a range of related disciplines. Family Law provides a platform for debate for all the important topics, from divorce and care proceedings to transparency and access to justice. If you would like to contribute please email emma.reitano@lexisnexis.co.uk.
Spotlight
Children and Same Sex Families
Children and Same Sex Families
Children and Same Sex Families: A Legal Handbook
More info
Mental Capacity
Mental Capacity
Mental Capacity: Law and Practice
More info
Evidence in Family Proceedings
Evidence in Family Proceedings
Evidence in Family Proceedings
More info
View All
A day in the life Of...
Read on

Publication of report: 'Evaluation of Family Drug and Alcohol Courts'

© Copyright LexisNexis 2024. All rights reserved.
Date:7 AUG 2023
Third slide

A large-scale evaluation of the impact of Family Drug and Alcohol Courts (FDAC) as an alternative to standard care proceedings (the new legal framework introduced by the Children and Families Act in 2014). FDAC aims to address the problems which have led the local authority to bring the parent(s) to court by using a ‘problem-solving’ approach. This involves a specialist multi-disciplinary team working closely with a judge and other professionals to provide intensive support to parents, with the aim of reducing their substance misuse issues. 

The objective of the impact evaluation was to understand the effect of FDAC proceedings on reunification for children and families at the end of care proceedings compared to standard care proceedings. The evaluation also aimed to test if parents who had been through the FDAC process as opposed to standard care proceedings were more likely to stop misusing substances, and also investigated if there were any differences in the rate of contested final hearings or the use of expert witnesses in proceedings.

 

Family Law Webinars
Family Law Webinars
One hour of training for just £75+VAT. Our 2019...
View product
Financial Remedies Handbook
Financial Remedies Handbook
Formerly entitled the Ancillary Relief Handbook...
£91.99
View product
Court of Protection Practice 2024
Court of Protection Practice 2024
'Court of Protection Practice goes from strength...
£465
View product

From the report:

"Key findings

There were limitations with the methodology and data collection in this evaluation which mean that we cannot attribute the effects found entirely to FDAC and we are unable to draw firm conclusions about impact of FDAC based on this study. Bearing in mind this caveat, we found:

  • Children with a primary carer in FDAC care proceedings were more likely to be reunified with their primary carer at the end of the care proceeding in comparison to children with a primary carer in non-FDAC care proceedings (52.0% versus 12.5%).
  • A higher proportion of FDAC than comparison parents had ceased to misuse drugs or alcohol by the end of the proceedings (33.6% versus 8.1%).
  • The proportion of hearings being contested was lower for FDAC than standard care proceedings (4.2% versus 23.8%).
  • A lower proportion of FDAC cases used external expert witness assessments compared with non-FDAC care proceedings (7.7% versus 96.1%).
  • Children in FDAC sites had lower probability of being placed in LA care compared with non-FDAC care proceedings (28.6% versus 54.7%).
  • The positive outcomes for cases supported by FDAC is in line with the evidence on FDAC in the WWCSC’s Evidence Store and the literature base."
You can read the full report here.
Categories:
News
Copyright © 2024 LexisNexis