The inspectorate for children's services examined the views of children in care about keeping in touch – and losing contact – with their families and friends while in care. Once children had been in care for over two years, they had much less contact with their birth family; and for those who had been in care for over six years all contact was most likely to be lost.
Source: Keeping in Touch, HMI 080275, Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills
Links: Report | OFSTED press release | Community Care report
Date: 2009-Dec
A paper said that new legislation to relax the restrictions on media reporting of family court cases lacked sufficient clarity about what could be reported, and could put the privacy of vulnerable children at risk.
Source: Robert George and Ceridwen Roberts, The Media and Family Courts: Key information and questions about the Children, Schools and Families Bill, Department of Social Policy and Social Work/University of Oxford
Links: Paper | Oxford University press release | Nuffield Foundation press release | Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2009-Dec
A report highlighted the detrimental effect on children of litigation following parental separation, and called for an alternative dispute resolution following family breakdown.
Source: Parental Separation, Children and the Courts, Mishcon de Reya
Links: Report | MDR press release | Families Need Fathers press release
Date: 2009-Dec
A new book examined how couples (whether cohabitants or spouses) managed their money during their relationships; and considered the impact of existing law on separating couples – looking at how legal principles translated into reality and what their consequences were for the parties.
Source: Joanna Miles and Rebecca Probert (eds.), Sharing Lives, Dividing Assets: An inter-disciplinary study, Hart Publishing (01865 517530)
Links: Summary
Date: 2009-Sep
Researchers examined the early implementation of the 'Public Law Outline' – a tool for the judicial case management of children's care proceedings.
Source: Patricia Jessiman, Peter Keogh and Julia Brophy, An Early Process Evaluation of the Public Law Outline in Family Courts, Research Report 10/09, Ministry of Justice (020 7210 8500)
Links: Report | Community Care report
Date: 2009-Aug
A briefing paper examined attempts in a variety of countries to open family courts to access by the media, and considered the lessons for similar reforms in England and Wales.
Source: Julia Brophy with Ceridwen Roberts, 'Openness and Transparency' in Family Courts: What the experience of other countries tells us about reform in England and Wales, Family Policy Briefing 5, Department of Social Policy and Social Work/University of Oxford (01865 270325)
Links: Briefing
Date: 2009-Jun
A report said that grandparents should be given easier access to their grandchildren after parents separated or divorced.
Source: Beyond the Nuclear: Including the wider family, Family Matters Institute (020 7613 5060), Families Need Fathers, and Grandparents' Association
Links: Report | FMI press release | Telegraph report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-May
A new book examined the role of the law in settling family disputes, focusing on the activities of barristers. It said that barristers were both mentors and guides for their clients, and that society should value their contribution more.
Source: Mavis Maclean and John Eekelaar, Family Law Advocacy: How barristers help the victims of family failure, Hart Publishing (01865 517530)
Links: Summary
Date: 2009-May
A report examined the extent and nature of contact problems in separated families. The majority of children (71 per cent) in the study were in touch with both their parents; and there was an overwhelming consensus among both resident and non-resident parents that contact was important for children. But in 24 per cent of the cases where children were having contact, and 28 per cent of those where they were not, resident parents said they had concerns about the child's care at some point: around half these concerns involved serious welfare issues such as alcohol or drug abuse, mental illness, or child abuse.
Source: Victoria Peacey and Joan Hunt, I'm Not Saying It Was Easy... Contact problems in separated families, Gingerbread (020 7428 5400)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Feb