Assessment of Parents within Care Proceedings

Reviewed by Julie Doughty, Lecturer in Law, Cardiff University, UK

The authors of this book are English family law barristers whose stated aim is to provide practical help to lawyers and others dealing with issues relating to the assessment of parents in the context of care proceedings. It discusses case law on directions for assessment under the Children Act 1989, recent family justice reforms, procedural and funding arrangements and different types of assessment. The book also explores the tension between the wishes of parents to have a fair assessment of their caring capacity and children’s need for an early decision about their future. It follows a traditional law book format with a detailed case list, table of statutes, references to sources and a comprehensive index.

Chapter 1 sets the context and explores the relationship between child protection agencies and the courts. This section is likely to have most international appeal as the rest of the book focuses mostly on the jurisdiction in England and Wales.

Chapters 2 and 3 explain the workings of the legislation that allow the court to request an assessment of a child when making an interim order. It may specify the need for a medical, psychiatric or other examination, provided the child gives consent. This legislation was introduced to address the problem of children being subjected to multiple physical examinations that were evident in the Cleveland Inquiry (DHSS, 1988) – that is, to limit the number of assessments – but since then, these ‘other assessments’ have been interpreted to permit the public funding of assessments of parents, while at the same time offering them a means to challenge the evidence brought by the local authority on the risks they pose to their child. (The different types of assessment commonly undertaken are set out in Chapter 6.)

The developments through case law and the scope of legal aid are then analysed, in particular the legal aid funding of expensive residential parent and baby assessments. It is noted that ambiguities in this arrangement were eventually resolved when the House of Lords differentiated between an assessment intended to meet the court’s requirement for evidence on parenting capacity and a residential service that is essentially a therapeutic programme for the parent.

Chapters 4 and 5 describe how reforms in the Children and Families Act 2014 have constrained judicial scrutiny of care plans and the use of independent expert witnesses. A parent’s lawyer may only now apply for an independent assessment when absolutely necessary. Surprisingly, given that courts now have to rely mostly on reports from local authority and CAFCASS social workers, the pressure on statutory social workers to produce a new type of assessment is hardly touched on.

Chapter 6 covers the different types of assessment: by independent social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists and experts on issues such as substance misuse and child maltreatment. The final chapter covers the arrangements for funding all of this activity.

Most of the debates on relevant research are well summarised to assist a reflective approach, for example the neuroscience controversy (Brown and Ward 2013; White and Wastell, 2013) in paragraphs 4.66–4.80. Some are less helpful, such as the uncritical acceptance of the Ireland report (paras 6.8; 6.65–6.69) and an anecdotal take on multidisciplinary teams instead of engagement with the evaluation (paras 6.119–6.124). But overall, this is an interesting book and a comprehensive guide for the busy practitioner either seeking or challenging an application for an independent assessment. The authors achieve their aims, although in such a fast-moving area the shelf life of a resource like this is difficult to predict.