Other organisations working in the Family Justice System
Children's Services Authorities or Children's Departments and Social Workers
CSA
Contact Centres
Doctors, Psychiatrists and other health professionals
Expert Witnesses
Family Mediators
Local Authority Social Services Departments and Social Workers
Police
Psychologists and counsellors
Refuges
Children's Services Authorities and Social Workers
Each local authority Children's Services Department works in partnership with other agencies such as health, the police and voluntary organisations to provide a range of social services for children and families including family support, fostering and adoption, residential care, leaving care services and child protection. These services aim to protect and support vulnerable children, and help families stay together. Only a minority of children's services work with families and children concerns the Family Justice System. In the Family Justice System they have special responsibilities relating to:
Safeguarding children and supporting families: Each local authority has legal duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in need in their area by providing services for families, and to ensure that children are protected from significant harm. Social workers in local authority children's services departments receive calls seeking help or expressing concern about children's welfare from parents, children, members of the public and professionals. They decide whether it is necessary to carry out an initial assessment and, if so, find out more about the family and talk to the parents and child. They may provide advice, offer services or carry out further assessments. If the child is at risk of significant harm, they will take action to protect the child by working with the parents to keep the child safe. In most cases solutions to difficulties are found and the child remains with their parent or carers. Sometimes, in only a few cases this is not possible and the local authority applies to the court for orders to protect the child. Unless a child has been abandoned or has no one to care for him or her, the local authority must have the agreement of the parent or bring care proceedings and obtain a care order to look after a child.
Adoption: Local authorities act as adoption agencies finding adoptive parents for children who cannot live with their birth parents or someone in their birth family and need a permanent family. They have duties to birth parents, prospective adopters and adoptive parents and children needing adoption and adults adopted as children.
Birth parents: when the local authority is planning to place a child for adoption it must provide counselling for the parents and explain why it has decided to do this, what will happen and how adoption affects them. The local authority will also want information about the parents and their family for the child to have. Parents are encouraged to speak to a solicitor where adoption is being planned. Advice is also available from the Family Rights Group.
Children needing adoption: When a child cannot be cared for by their birth family and adoption represents the best option, the local authority must take the necessary steps to plan for adoption. It must counsel and inform the child and prepare a report for the Adoption Panel. After the Panel's recommendation has been accepted by the local authority and prospective adoptive parents have been identified, social workers prepare the child to move to their new family and support them there.
Prospective adopters: Local authorities have duties to prepare and assess people who want to adopt children. This is a rigorous process, involving medical and police checks as well as personal discussions and a written report. Prospective adopters must be approved by the authority's Adoption Panel. Once the local authority, or another adoption agency, has confirmed the linking of a child to a prospective adoptive family, appropriate social work support (counselling, advice, advocacy) and financial support where necessary will continue to be provided either directly or via another adoption agency. This support is available through the period of introduction of the child to the family, up to the making of the adoption order and after the adoption. A useful guide to adoption policy and practice can be found on the British Association for Adoption and Fostering website.
Adults adopted as children: have the right to access their birth records. They can apply to the Registrar General for information allowing them to get a copy of their original birth certificate. They can also apply to the Adoption Agency which arranged their adoption for information about their background. If adopted adults want to make contact with family members they can contact an Adoption Support Agency which provides Intermediary Service. Further information about access to birth records is available from the General Register Office and further information about tracing and contact is available from British Agencies for Adoption and Fostering.
CSA - The Child Support Agency
The Child Support Agency is part of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). It is responsible for running the child support system. Their business is to assess, collect and pay child support maintenance, making sure that parents who live apart meet their financial responsibilities to their children.
For more information see the CSA website.
Contact Centres
Child Contact Centres are meeting places where children of separated families can enjoy contact with one (or both) parents, and sometimes other family members, in a comfortable and safe environment when there is no viable alternative. Most contact centres provide supported contact, they do not supervise contact. Contact Centres are also used so children can be collected by a visiting parent without their parents having to meet. Supported Contact Centres aim to provide short-term help and support towards establishing meaningful contact between a child and their visiting parent. Centres are staffed by trained volunteers whose role is to make contact an enjoyable experience for both child and parent. At some centres supervised contact can be arranged to ensure the child's safety and well being during contact.
The court can direct that contact takes place at a contact centre. Alternatively, including where there are no proceedings, a parent may approach a contact centre through their solicitor. Contact Centres need information about the contact arrangements and the parent wanting contact before they can decide whether they can offer their services. If the court orders contact to be supervised, it may also ask the supervisor to report on contact that takes place.
Doctors, Psychiatrists and other health professionals
Health professionals may play a role in supporting individuals involved with the Family Justice System. They act under strict codes of confidentiality which can only be broken where someone’s life is threatened, or a crime has been committed. Sometimes health professionals will be called on to prepare reports and give evidence. In these cases their main duty is to the court.
For more information on how different types of health professionals work visit the Royal College and professional websites:
Community health practitioners and health visitors
General Practitioners
Midwives
Nurses
Obstetricians and gynaecologists
Paediatricians
Pathologist
Physicians
Psychiatrists
Surgeons
Expert Witnesses
An Expert Witness is anyone with knowledge or experience of a particular field or discipline beyond what is expected of a layman. An Expert Witness makes his or her knowledge available to a court to help it understand the issues of a case and reach a sound and just decision. Experts must demonstrate their competence in their area of expertise. They should only accept instructions in matters where they have the necessary knowledge, experience, academic qualifications, professional training and resources.
For more information on experts go to the Expert Witness Institute website.
Family Mediators
Family Mediators help those involved in family breakdown to communicate better with one another and reach their own decisions about all or some of the issues arising from separation or divorce - children, property and finance.
Mediation is about directly negotiating your own decisions with the help of a third party. It is an alternative to solicitors negotiating for you or having decisions made for you by the courts. Entering mediation is always voluntary. You can find out more about mediation including how to find a mediator near you.
Police
The police have a wide range of responsibilities including the detection and investigation of crime, crime prevention and community safety. Within the Family Justice System, they have key roles in protecting victims of domestic violence, investigating allegations of child abuse and protecting children at risk. The police are also involved when children are missing and in cases of child abduction and forced marriage. Local police services have specialist units with specially trained officers who do much of this work.
Police Family Protection Units work with victims of domestic violence for their protection. Police officers can arrest violent offenders. They can arrest someone who has breached an injunction and keep them in custody until the court hearing. For more information see Protection from domestic violence.
Police officers from Child Abuse Investigation Units (CAIU’s) work with local authority social workers on joint investigations of child abuse, including sexual abuse. All police officers also have the power to take children at risk of significant harm into police protection for up to 72 hours. They do this at the request of local authority social services departments or when officers find children alone or without adequate care. Local authorities are responsible for looking after children in police protection.
Psychologists and counsellors
Within the Family Justice System psychologists are concerned with practical problems such as how to help parents and children cope with relationship breakdown. There are several main types of psychologists, depending on their specialist postgraduate qualifications or training. In the Family Justice System you are most likely to encounter Clinical psychologists, Counselling psychologists or Educational psychologists.
Some people choose counsellors rather than psychologists to help them with their family problems and emotional issues. Counsellors may or may not have formal qualifications.
Clinical Psychologists aim to reduce psychological distress and to enhance and promote psychological well-being. They work with people with mental or physical health problems - which might include anxiety and depression, serious and enduring mental illness, adjustment to physical illness, neurological disorders, addictive behaviours, childhood behaviour disorders, and problems with their personal lives and family relationships. They work with people of all ages and with those with learning disabilities.
They work largely in health and social care settings including hospitals, health centres, community mental health teams, child and adolescent mental health services and social services. Some work in the private sector.
Counselling Psychologists apply psychology to working collaboratively with people across a diverse range of human problems. These include helping people manage difficult life events such as bereavement, past and present relationships and working with mental health issues and disorders. Counselling Psychologists accept subjective experience as valid for each person, explore underlying issues and use an active collaborative relationship to empower people to consider change.
Counselling Psychologists work within the NHS in general and psychiatric hospitals and GP surgeries; in private hospitals and in independent practice and may work directly with individuals, couples, families, groups or act as consultants.
Educational Psychologists apply psychology to helping children and young people. They use a wide range of psychological techniques in assessing abilities and assisting those who have difficulties in learning or social adjustment. They have a central role in assessing (statementing) children with special needs, under the 1996 Education Act. Services offered might include counselling, planning programmes to overcome behavioural problems, supporting teaching and learning techniques, as well as working with teachers and policy development at single school level or across the whole of the local education authority.
Most Chartered Educational Psychologists work within the Local Education Authority (LEA) system but others work with adults, or in private practice.
Counsellors may help you in many different ways. They may just listen, as speaking out loud about your problems may help you put your thoughts in order. Some counsellors may go through a whole list of options, and examine the pros and cons of each option, so that you can make better informed decisions. Counsellors do not tell you what to do. The counselling methods used will depend on your particular problem, and the style of counselling undertaken by the counsellor. Counselling is not a regulated profession, and people without qualifications can call themselves counsellors. A referral from your G.P or a personal recommendation can help you find a suitable counsellor.
Finding a psychologist or counsellor
For more information about psychologists and counselling see:
- http://www.bps.org.uk/ (psychologists)
- http://www.bacp.co.uk/ (counsellors and psychotherapists)
- http://www.counselling.ltd.uk/ (counsellors)
Refuges
Refuges provide temporary accommodation for victims of domestic violence and their children. Women can go to a refuge whether or not they have children. There is no limit to the length of stay. Some refuges also provide outreach services to support women and children in their homes, and after they leave a refuge. Refuge staff help women and children to get the services they need, including benefits and legal advice, and provide emotional support.
Finding a place in a refuge
The police or a local authority social services department can help find a place in a refuge, you can also call the 24 hour Domestic Violence help line 0808 2000 247. Contact Refuge for more information.