Children Act Research Articles

What are the barriers to accessing services for unaccompanied minors in london? A qualitative approach

AimTo identify and explore the barriers to accessing a range of services in London for unaccompanied minors and to formulate strategies to overcome any barriers identified.MethodA qualitative study was undertaken...

Partnership and the limits of procedure: prospects for relationships between parents and professionals under the new Public Law Outline

April 2008 saw the introduction of a new Public Law Outline (PLO) that aims to improve judicial case management of Public Law Children Act cases. The PLO is a response to concerns about the rising number of care proceedings, associated costs, and the difficulties of achieving case resolution given this volume. Based on an ethos that care proceedings should be avoided wherever possible, the new approach to case management, which places significant emphasis on pre-proceedings work and the effective engagement of parents, can be seen to reinforce the ‘no order principle’ enshrined in the Children Act (CA) 1989. Focusing specifically on relationships between parents and professionals, this paper provides a critical discussion of the potential of the PLO to further promote consensual practices with parents. Discussion traces the introduction of the concept of partnership within the CA 1989, provides a review of the evidence to-date of effective partnership working, before considering the prospects for the PLO with respect to parental engagement. A number of key contextual obstacles are highlighted that will inevitably undermine the aspirations of the new outline, and a more general observation is drawn about the limits of procedure in effecting change in complex social issues.

Critical Commentary: Looked After Children: Time for Change?

For the past 120 years or so, those concerned about the welfare of children have taken steps to remove them from their homes when the risk of leaving them in situ has seemed too great. The early Salvationists, such as Thomas Barnardo and Benjamin Waugh, saw their ideas formalized in legislation which, from the 1908 Children Act onwards, has sought one end: to protect children from harm by removing them from the home when the risk of leaving them there has seemed too great. Although the wording may have changed over the past century, the intent of all the Children Acts has remained, in that regard, constant. The move, however, towards family group conferences and towards consid ering wider kinship support for children has increased in recent years, with groups such as the newly formed Family Policy Alliance pressing for changes in practice, so that: