Family drug and alcohol courts to be rolled out nationally
New courts will be established around the country to help parents struggling with complex substance abuse problems
The much-praised model of family drug and alcohol courts is to be rolled out across the country following a £2.5m funding boost.
Announced today, backing from the Department for Education’s innovation fund will help launch and establish new family drug [...]
DNA tests to cut courtroom battles
DNA tests in family courts will be provided across England from later this year, Justice Minister Simon Hughes has announced.
From September all family court judges in England will be able to order DNA tests to determine a child’s parentage.
This follows 2 pilot schemes in Taunton and Bristol which were set up following anecdotal evidence that [...]
Social workers to receive expert training on female genital mutilation
Social workers will soon have access to expert training on female genital mutilation from a new centre of excellence.
Backed by £2m funding from the Department for Education’s innovation fund, the Local Government Association (LGA) and Barnardo’s will set up the centre, which will pool skilled social workers - with extensive experience of working with those [...]
PAMS Trained ISWs available now
WillisPalmer has experienced independent social workers available to undertake assessments utilising the Parent Assessment Manual (PAMS) (S McGaw, 2010).
The PAMS has been found to be an essential assessment framework when evaluating parenting capacity of vulnerable parents including those with learning difficulties, mental health problems or other emotionally complex needs.
WillisPalmer has recruited and trained over [...]
Nearly half of sibling groups are separated in care, finds report
Almost half of sibling groups in local authority care are split up, a report by the Family Rights Group has found.
Freedom of Information requests conducted by the charity revealed 49.5% of sibling groups are separated in local authority care, based on responses from 122 English local authorities.
Where sibling groups were placed together, 23% were living [...]
Ofsted finds 36% rise in children missing from foster care
Over 13,000 incidents of fostered children going missing were reported between April 2013 and March 2014, a 36% rise on the previous year, Ofsted has revealed.
According to data published by the watchdog this week, a total of 4,245 fostered children and young people were reported to have gone missing, 900 more than the previous year. [...]
