Changing Lifestyles, Keeping Children Safe: an evaluation of the first Family Drug and Alcohol Court (FDAC) in care proceedings

" When the opportunity came up it was like a godsend. A year ago I was at the bottom. I lost my kids. I had no confidence. I was doing drugs and drinking. I couldn't get any lower. To be quite honest I was like a tramp. " [mother] " This court is different. We don't do conflict. We minimise hostility. This is about solving problems. " [judge, to a parent] " I do think the model is good-and I think it could potentially help in all care cases. It's a good model because it helps parents get focused on their problems. It should be the way the care system works, full stop. " [social worker] " FDAC has been of enormous benefit to us. I have been freed from addiction, and my child has gained a father. " [father] This report and related documents, including a brief summary of findings and a free-standing executive summary, are available at www.brunel.ac.uk/fdacresearch. (May 2014) Changing Lifestyles, Keeping Children Safe: an evaluation of the first Family Drug and Alcohol Court (FDAC) in care proceedings. Brunel University. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This has been a fascinating, complex and lengthy research project and it has been a privilege to be involved in the evaluation of a socio-legal intervention that breaks new ground. We have been extraordinarily fortunate in the support we have received from the many people who have helped bring it to fruition, putting themselves out for us despite all the other pressures on their time. They include the Justices' Clerk for the Greater London Family Panel during the pilot, the judges and legal advisers in the FDAC court and their administrative colleagues who facilitated our access to vital court records at Wells Street Family Proceedings Court, and the Children's Services managers, lawyers and administrative staff in all six local authorities who gave us their time, commitment and practical support in accessing information from local authority files. Cafcass also played an essential role in helping us fulfil the research objectives, in particular by completing a form about case information at the end of each case. The support of government departments, and of Coram and the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, was invaluable, as was the interest and help of the FDAC Steering Group at Stage 1 and the Cross-Borough Operational Group throughout. We owe a special debt of gratitude to the FDAC team, for their unfailing …