Practice week...

Last week was our annual Practice Week, where the team travels around England and Wales meeting with experts, practitioners, and those with lived experiences of the family justice system. Collaboration and fostering conversations are a vital way of improving the system for children and families. We hope Practice Week can help us to think about different ways of working and learn about innovative ways of working that are happening now.

Lisa Harker, Director of Nuffield Family Justice Observatory, said: “We believe that convening discussions and listening to the experiences of others is vitally important for improving the family justice system for children and families. By getting to better understand the challenges faced by different people across the system, as well as by learning about innovative working practices, we hope to foster greater collaboration and joined up thinking. We also hope to improve our work by inviting feedback and learning more about where gaps in our knowledge still exist.”

Practice Week this year saw the team traveling far and wide, from Leicester and Coventry to Manchester, Durham, Newport and Cardiff.

In Leicester, we met with YMCA Leicestershire to learn about the YMCA’s role in the lives of young people. It was inspiring to see how the team there is dedicated to wrap around care for young people, including taking a trauma informed approach. We met with some of the young people who are currently living in the YMCA who chatted with us about their ambitions for the future and the ways the team have been supporting them, including helping them to get jobs at the bar of the YMCA theatre, the oldest theatre in Leicester.

In Durham, we had the privilege of spending the afternoon with DCS John Pearce and team at City Of Durham Council Children and Young People’s Services. We learned more about their Pre-Birth Intervention, work to reduce repeat care proceedings, support for children with complex needs and integrated health and social care commissioning.

In Coventry we received a warm welcome from Coventry City Council to learn about their work to return children from care to live with their families and enjoyed meeting some of the parents who have benefited from the support of Coventry’s inspiring Reunification Team.?

In Wales, we visited Barnardos Cymru and heard about the incredible partnership taking place between themselves and Newport City Council which has so far safely reduced the number of babies coming into care in Newport by 50%.

And in Cardiff, we joined the Southeast Wales Private Law Pathfinder workshop which brought together judges, magistrates, legal advisors Cafcass Cymru family court advisors, Local authority social workers, Independent Domestic Violence Advocates and others working in and around the family Courts in Southeast Wales. Jude Eyre, Associate Director for Strategy and Practice says: “It was inspiring to hear the level of positivity about the Pathfinder model and what has been achieved in the 6 months since it was launched. Children and young people are being met with in the vast majority of cases before the first hearing. Hundreds of referrals have been made to domestic abuse support services. More judges are writing to children and meeting with children. Cases are shorter in length and felt to be less traumatic for those involved. But what was perhaps most impressive was the desire to keep learning and keep improving. This isn’t an area resting on its laurels. People are full of enthusiasm to maintain momentum and keep getting better.”?

At the Manchester Family Drug and Alcohol Court the team was given fantastic access to observe some cases. Katie Abbotts, communications consultant said, “It was great to see transparency being embraced by the court and the depth and range of care given to parents by the FDAC team. It was inspiring to see everyone working together, with an equality I wasn’t expecting. We saw some examples of inspiring practice we’re hoping to capture in our Seeding Change stories series.”

Lisa Harker, summarises: “This year’s Practice Week was a great success, with the team visiting diverse organisations and settings all across England and Wales. Thank you so much to everyone who made time to meet and speak with us. We now hope to digest what we have learned and take new relationships forward. By continuing to keep discussions flowing, we will keep learning and incorporating diverse voices, including those of young people, into our work.”?