Children and families share experiences of Pathfinder courts
The Ministry of Justice has published a report looking at the experience of children and families of the new ‘Pathfinder’ courts.
We have written here previously about Pathfinder courts. To briefly recap, Pathfinder courts adopt a new approach to dealing with disputes between separated parents over arrangements for their children.
In February 2022 Pathfinder pilots were established in Dorset and North Wales family court areas. The Pilot’s aim was to improve the experiences of children and families by:
- Improving the family court experience for all parties, particularly parent survivors of domestic abuse and their children;
- Improving children’s experience of and (appropriate) participation in the court process;
- Adopting a multi-agency approach to improve coordination between the family courts and agencies, such as local authorities and the police;
- Delivering a more efficient court process which reduces delays, whilst ensuring all orders are safe and appropriate to the case;
- Reducing the re-traumatisation of domestic abuse survivors, including children, that may be experienced during proceedings; and
- Reducing the number of returning cases through a more sustainable court order.
As to the court process itself, Pathfinder uses a new model. Amongst other things, this involves early information gathering (to gain a better understanding of the safeguarding and welfare needs of families), and enhancing the voice of the child throughout the proceedings.
The new report looks at the experiences of children and families who have been involved in cases in the pilot courts. The researchers who prepared the report spoke to 39 parents and carers, and nine children.
The researchers identified a number of themes from the experiences reported by the carers and children, including:
1. Court experience: Most participants had positive experiences with Cafcass/Cafcass Cymru Family Court Advisors (who investigate cases and advise the court), and some also had positive interactions with judges and magistrates, especially when they felt heard. However, participants also reported negative experiences when they believed social workers, advisers, judges or magistrates downplayed or ignored their concerns.
2. Child experience and participation: Most children reflected positively on their interactions with family court advisers, but there were mixed experiences as to whether children’s wishes and perspectives were considered in the final outcome of proceedings.
3. Reducing the re-traumatisation of domestic abuse: Participants in cases involving domestic abuse were found to have mixed feelings about whether the Pathfinder goal of reducing re-traumatisation had been met.
4. Multi-agency working: Most participants felt multi-agency collaboration needed improvement. For example, parents predominantly reported negative experiences with information sharing across agencies, especially regarding safeguarding and welfare concerns.
5. Efficiency of the court process: Parents with prior experience of cases under the current (non-Pathfinder) system found the Pathfinder process to be more efficient.
6. Returning cases and review stage: As one might expect, parents were generally positive when they achieved the outcomes they wanted, but some expected to return to court, because their desired outcome had not been achieved or enforced.
In the light of these findings, the report makes various suggestions for improving Pathfinder, for example keeping children informed throughout the process, a greater emphasis on reducing re-traumatisation for domestic abuse victim-survivors, and improving multi-agency information sharing and collaboration.
You can read the full report, here.
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