Data Resource: Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) public family law administrative records in England.

Ruth Gilbert,Matthew A Jay,Linda Wijlaars,Rachel Pearson,Stuart Bedston,Karen Broadhurst

doi:10.23889/ijpds.v5i1.1159

Abstract

IntroductionIn England, in cases of child maltreatment or neglect, the state can intervene through the family court to remove children from their family home and place them in out-of-home care. The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) collects and maintains administrative records of all public family law cases in England. While these national records are primarily used to monitor and manage the workflow of Cafcass teams across England, researchers have re-purposed this data for analysis to understand the drivers and outcomes of public family law intervention.Data contentsThe administrative dataset is a reflection of the cases Cafcass is involved with and the extent of that involvement. The dataset contains information about the local authority that makes an application to initiate public family law proceedings, the children and families involved, and the duration and details of the case. Between 1 April 2007 and 31 March 2019, Cafcass captured information on approximately 172,100 public family law cases, involving 282,300 children, and 349,600 adults (of which 289,300 are recorded as biological parents). Amongst the information recorded are the relations between adults and children, making it possible for researchers to identify family groups. Additionally, recording practices at Cafcass have improved over time, this has increased the availability of demographic information of all those involved, as well as child’s final legal outcome.Data accessResearchers can apply to the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage databank (SAIL) for access to the Cafcass pseudonymised administrative data extract, where it is refreshed bi-annually.Keywordschildren, out of home care, family relations, family law

Highlights

Introduction InEngland, in cases of child maltreatment or neglect, the state can intervene through the family court to remove children from their family home and place them in out-of-home care
In cases of child maltreatment or neglect, the state can intervene through the family court to remove children from the family home and place them in out-of-home care (OOHC)
This national data collection does not allow for identifying siblings and parents, or the examination of family court processes, nor does it capture those who go to court and do not enter local authority care

Summary

Introduction

In cases of child maltreatment or neglect, the state can intervene through the family court to remove children from the family home and place them in out-of-home care (OOHC). As Cafcass records parent-child relationships in the majority of cases, this enables researchers to link multiple public family law applications from the same individual or family group to identify returns to court over time. This was utilised in a pioneering study to quantify recurrence among mothers subject to care proceedings [14]. Cafcass data is being linked to administrative healthcare records in England, enabling research into the healthcare needs of mothers involved in care proceedings to inform interventions to safeguard vulnerable mothers and their children [19]. Please refer to their website [23]

Strengths and limitations

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Conflicts of interest