Reforms of Family Court Supervision Orders, which aim to keep families together safely after care proceedings, were announced this afternoon following a major review, largely prompted by Lancaster University research.
The review concluded that the Supervision Order was not fit for purpose but should be retained and reformed to help make it a more robust and effective Order.
Under a Supervision Order the duty of the Local Authority is to 'advise, assist and befriend' the child and to work with the family to provide short-term support and services to enable families to stay together safely after care proceedings.
The review called for 'immediate implementation' of specially developed best practice guidance to be adopted by each local authority children's services as a key measure to make Supervision Orders more robust and effective.
As its centre-piece the best practice guidance includes the introduction of a Supervision Order plan to provide clarity about the support and services that will be provided and the expectations of parents, carers and/ or the children. The support plan will need to be approved by the court before a Supervision Order is made. Review of the plan will be a key way of monitoring delivery and outcomes of the Order.
Crucially, the review also calls for government to provide the necessary resources to local authorities to enable them to adopt and implement the best practice guidance as fully as possible.
The President of the Family Division, the Rt Hon Sir Andrew Macfarlane, launched the findings of the first review of Supervision Orders to be undertaken since the 1989 Children Act. He endorsed all the recommendations from the review.
At the online event the President was joined by High Court Judge (Family Division) the Hon Mr Justice Keehan and Professor Judith Harwin, of Lancaster University's Centre for Child and Family Justice Research, who co-chaired a working group leading to the review decision.
A panel of speakers at the launch included the national head of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), a parent and members of the Family Justice Young People's Board.
Proposals for longer term change include making a Supervision Order support plan mandatory, placing local authorities under a statutory duty to provide support and services under a Supervision Order and introducing government guidance to underpin the best practice guidance.
These proposals would require legislative change to the Children Act 1989 and/or approval for additional public spending by government.
Research by Professor Harwin and colleagues in 2019 found that 20% of all children on a Supervision Order nationally risk further care proceedings within 5 years of the original order - higher than for any other family order.
Widespread concerns about the effectiveness of the Supervision Order, largely prompted by Professor Harwin and team's study, led the President of the Family Division to set up the Public Law Working Group (PLWG) Supervision Order Sub Group. .
The recommendations to retain but strengthen the Supervision Order were based on research led by Professor Harwin and funded by the Department of Education on parental perspectives of supervision orders, a survey of professional opinion and a national consultation exercise commissioned for the review.
On average over the last decade 2,800 children are subject to a Supervision Order each year, approximately 13% of all children subject to care proceedings.
Professor Harwin said: "This report represents a milestone for children and their families when a Supervision Order is planned or made at the end of care proceedings.
"Too many children and their parents have been deprived of the support and services that enable the family to remain safely together.
"The detailed and evidence based best practice guidance has responded to these challenges. The longer-term reforms will be needed if the guidance is insufficient to achieve its objectives. What is clear is that after more than two decades, the Supervision Order is getting the attention it deserves."
