CARE PROCEEDINGS REFORMS:

1
(No Transcript)
2
Session 1

• INTRODUCTIONS
• Aim To introduce the trainers, aims and
  objectives, programme for the day

3
Aims and Objectives

• Aims
• Participants should
• Understand requirements of the new PLO and
  revised Statutory Guidance
• Understand the onus these reforms place on
  individuals and organisations to prevent
  unnecessary delay
• Be enabled to cascade key messages and learning
  points

4
Aims and Objectives

• Objectives
• By the end of the day to be able to
• Describe core components of PLO and revised
  Statutory Guidance
• Identify how the new processes and procedures
  differ from current system
• Illustrate implications of the reforms on
  working practices
• Identify how to cascade training

5
Programme

• 10a.m. Session 1 Introductions
• 10.20a.m. Session 2 DVD about PLO
• 10.40a.m. Session 3 Overview of Changes
• 10.55a.m. Session 4 Statutory Guidance
• 11.30a.m. 11.50a.m. TEA COFFEE BREAK
• 11.50a.m. Session 5 Case Study
• 12.45p.m. 1.45p.m. LUNCH
• 1.45p.m. Session 6 Public Law Outline
• 2.15p.m. Session 7 Case Study
• 3.15p.m. Session 8 The Way Forward
• 4.00p.m. END

6
(No Transcript)
7
Session 2

• DVD INTRODUCING THE PUBLIC LAW OUTLINE
• Aim To outline why change to the care
  proceedings system is necessary

8
(No Transcript)
9
Session 3

• CARE PROCEEDINGS REFORMS
• An Overview
• Aim To summarise the background to the reforms
  and outline the main changes to become effective
  in April 2008

10
CONTEXT

• Over 14,000 applications (by child) for care or
  supervision orders each year
• More than 60 of care proceedings involve
  children under six years of age
• Cases frequently take longer than 12 months to
  reach a conclusionand the longer it takes, the
  longer a child has to wait for a decision as to
  their future
• These children, and their families, are some of
  the most vulnerable and socially excluded people
  in our society

11
CASE FOR CHANGE

• Care Review (May 2006) found unnecessary delay
• caused by complex set of drivers
• poorly prepared court applications
• ineffective case management
• scarcity of judicial resources
• variation in quality of representation
• expert evidence that takes a long time to
  commission and/or is requested late and/or
  does not provide suitable guidance for the
  court
• late allocation of the childrens guardian
• alternative carers emerging late in
  proceedings
• variations in regional practice.

12
CARE REVIEW RECOMMENDATIONS

• The Review of the Child Care Proceedings System
  in England and
• Wales (May 2006) highlighted five key areas for
  attention
• Helping families - ensuring families and
  children understand proceedings
• Better informed resolution - ensuring
  applications are made after all safe and
  appropriate alternatives have been explored
• Preparation for proceedings - improving the
  quality and consistency of applications
• During proceedings - improved case management
• Inter-agency working - ensuring closer
  professional relationships

13
KEY REFORMS

• Volume 1 (Court Orders) Children Act 1989
  Guidance and Regulations
• revised statutory guidance for local authorities,
  issued by the Department for Children, Schools
  and Families and Welsh Assembly Government
• issued under the Local Authority Social Services
  Act 1970
• Public Law Outline
• replacing the current Protocol for Judicial Case
  Management
• setting out how cases will be managed through the
  courts

14
STATUTORY GUIDANCE

• Key changes
• Incorporates Framework for the Assessment of
  Children in Need and Their Families - ensuring
  core assessments are completed
• access for parents and those with PR to
  pre-proceedings legal advice
• front-loaded preparation emphasis on
  pre-proceedings work by local authorities

15
Public Law Outline (PLO)

• Key changes
• Four stages, rather than six
• Advocates meetings
• Timetables focussed around the needs of the child
• Cafcass/Cafcass Cymru analysis and
  recommendations

16
(No Transcript)
17
Session 4

• STATUTORY GUIDANCE
• Aim To cover the revisions to the Statutory
  Guidance and the introduction of the
  Pre-proceedings Checklist

18
Relevant training materials

• Section 2, training packs
• pre-proceedings flowchart
• slides
• chapter 3, Volume 1 (Court Orders) Children Act
  1989 guidance and regulations
• template letter before proceedings

19
Structure of the guidance

• Chapter 3 - care and supervision - supports the
  PLO
• But we must not forget the other chapters, which
  reflect case law and policy developments
• Chapter 1 - introduction
• Chapter 2 - private law
• Chapter 4 - emergency provisions
• Chapter 5 - secure accommodation

20
Engaging with families

• Good evidence-based assessments
• No surprises about the issues
• parents fully involved and informed about the
  possibility of proceedings
• Plans in plain written terms
• explained to families and children
• Effective communication with children and
  families
• tailored to their needs

21
Engaging with families

• Clarity of expectations and consequences
• Identifying all significant adults in the childs
  family and their role
• completing appropriate kinship assessments
• Quality initial and core assessments
• good quality, ensuring core social work takes
  place

22
Preparing for proceedings

• Legal planning/gateway meetings - determining
  whether it is appropriate to issue a letter
  before proceedings
• Letters before proceedings - tailored for each
  individual case
• Entitlement to pre-proceedings legal advice -
  parents/those with parental responsibility
• Meeting with parents, advocates and local
  authority
• Completion of the pre-proceedings checklist

23
Pre-proceedings checklist

• From local authority files
• previous courts orders and judgments/reasons
• initial and core assessments
• section 7/37 reports
• relatives and friends materials
• single, joint or inter-agency materials
• (e.g. immigration/health)
• pre-existing care plans
• letter before proceedings
• To be prepared
• social work chronology
• initial social work statement
• care plan
• allocation record and timetable for the child
• schedule of proposed findings

24
Implementation planning

• Work with other local authorities and agencies to
  look at the implications
• Consideration of how local authority processes
  fit with the pre-proceedings work, e.g. resource
  panels and planning interventions for children
• Clarity internally about the resources available
  for working with the family and child at each
  stage

25
Summary - key changes

• Ensuring core assessments fully completed
• Exploring kinship opportunities as fully as
  possible
• Issuing a letter before proceedings as
  appropriate
• Pre-proceedings legal advice - helping to clarify
  the issues for parents
• Meeting between parents, advocates and local
  authority
• Completion of pre-proceedings checklist

26
(No Transcript)
27
Session 5

• CASE STUDY PART 1 STATUTORY GUIDANCE
• Aim To consider how the Statutory Guidance will
  work in practice
• Address questions 1 7 with reference to the
  revised Statutory Guidance
• Feedback - what aspects of the guidance will help
  your practice?

28
(No Transcript)
29
Session 6

• PUBLIC LAW OUTLINE
• Aim To cover the basic requirements of the
  Public Law Outline, including the streamlined
  court process

30
Relevant training materials

• Section 3, training packs
• flowchart showing the court process
• Practice Direction from the President of the
  Family Division, to be used by all parties as a
  case management tool
• Public Law Outline, pages 9-11 of the Practice
  Direction
• supplementary application form PLO1 (Annex A)
• local authority case summary form (Annex B)
• draft case management order (Annex C)
• Section 4, training packs
• Cafcass/Cafcass Cymru guidance for completion of
  the analysis and recommendations

31
Pre-proceedings checklist

• Checklist documentation should be filed, together
  with the supplementary application form - PLO1
• Balance - if the safety and welfare of the child
  means an application needs to be made
  immediately, local authorities should not wait
  until all of the documentation has been prepared
• The court will review the application and
  checklist - standard directions will be given on
  issue, requesting any missing checklist materials
  and covering matters such as the appointment of
  the Childrens Guardian

32
Allocation record

• To be filed with the pre-proceedings checklist
• No standard form - to be produced by the local
  authority
• It must include a proposal about which level of
  court the case should be heard at
• The court will review this and make a decision
  about allocation - space should be provided for
  the courts decision in the allocation record

33
Timetable for the child

• Set by the court - and reviewed at all the PLO
  stages
• Will take account of all significant steps in the
  childs life that are likely to take place during
  proceedings - including legal, social care,
  health and education steps
• Examples
• starting a new school
• assessments
• change in the childs placement

34
Streamlined process

• Six stages reduced to four
• Issue and First Appointment - to allocate and
  give initial case management directions
• Advocates meeting and Case Management Conference
  (CMC) - to identify issues and give full case
  management directions
• Advocates meeting and Issues Resolution Hearing
  (IRH) to resolve, narrow and identify any
  remaining issues
• Final Hearing - to determine remaining issues

35
Issue focus

• Each stage of the PLO
• focused on identifying, narrowing and resolving
  the key issues in the case
• e.g. drink, drugs, violence
• The focus should be on those issues that need to
  be resolved and determined by the court

36
Advocates meetings

• Only advocates and litigants in person should
  attend these meetings
• To consider issues in the case at least two days
  before the CMC or IRH
• Completion of the draft case management order -
  to be filed by the local authority at least one
  day before the hearing - identifying the key
  issues in the case
• Emphasis on co-operation

37
Experts

• There will be a separate Practice Direction on
  how and when experts will be appointed in court
  proceedings
• The appointment of an expert is a matter to be
  determined by the court
• An experts report should not take the place of
  core social work - e.g. initial and core
  assessments, and assessment of family members as
  carers

38
Cafcass/Cafcass Cymru analysis and recommendations

• Incremental analysis and reporting in order to
  help the court focus on the key issues - at each
  stage of the case
• Initial analysis and recommendations at day six
  will be built upon for the CMC and IRH
• The final report is replaced by a final analysis
  and recommendations, which is a sum of the
  earlier analysis

39
A new model of practice

• Making an early contribution, with analysis of
  the pre-proceedings work done by the local
  authority
• Understanding and promoting the childs immediate
  and life-long welfare needs, and promoting the
  childs active participation - core to the case
  analysis, intervention and case management
• Working with the child as an active partner in
  their own case, and identifying issues that might
  influence the Timetable for the Child at each
  stage

40
Writing for Court

• Reporting at each stage through Analysis and
  Recommendations documents
• Working draft for initiative areas -
  implementation of final version from April 2008
• Templates provided for
• Initial Analysis
• Interim Analysis
• Final Analysis
• Checklist for verbal information at First
  Appointment (if no time to prepare written
  document)
• Guidance notes include a Funnel document of
  questions to be addressed at each stage

41
Summary - key changes

• Filing checklist documentation and supplementary
  form PLO1 with the application
• New, streamlined court process
• New allocation record and timetable for the child
• Ensuring advocates meetings take place
• Completion of draft case management order
• Focus on identifying, narrowing and resolving
  issues at all stages of the PLO
• Change in reporting role for childrens guardian
  - incremental and analytical reporting at all
  stages

42
(No Transcript)
43
Session 7

• CASE STUDY PARTS 2 4 PUBLIC LAW OUTLINE
• Aim To consider how the Public Law Outline will
  work in practice
• Address questions 8 23 with reference to the
  Practice Direction
• Feedback how will the Public Law Outline help
  your practice?

44
(No Transcript)
45
Session 8

• THE WAY FORWARD
• Aim What will you do to implement the Statutory
  Guidance and the PLO in your own agency? How can
  agencies best work together?
• Plenary to summarise action points

46
Action planning - considerations

• Training - how and when will it be cascaded to
  peers and colleagues
• Inter-agency working - who do you need to work
  with to make this a reality
• Impact assessment - e.g. what working
  practices/structures may need to change
• Implementation planning

47
(No Transcript)