Cafcass published the terms of reference for their new Learning and Improvement Board and we are pleased to be included as one of its members. 

On 9 October, Cafcass published The Terms of Reference for their newly established Learning and Improvement Board. The Learning and Improvement Board will oversee an improvement programme for Cafcass’ work with children and families who have experienced domestic abuse. The priorities for improvement will initially draw on the findings of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) Expert Panel on Harm in the Family Courts (2020).

The Board will be co-chaired by Cathy Ashley (Chief Executive of Family Rights Group) and Angela Frazer-Wicks (Trustee of Family Rights Group and a founding member of its Parents’ Panel). The Board is made up of professionals - including us, and parents and young people who have lived experience of the family justice system.

The original panel asked to work on the Harm report were widely considered as very unbalanced, we made representations about that to the Minister at the time. The pendulum has hardly swung to the middle on this panel, but it has swung a little. We will be represented on Cafcass's Learning and Improvement Board, as will a nominee FNF member with recent 'lived experience' of Cafcass.

Our hope is that our voice on this board will help to provide balance, suggest appropriate solutions, challenge proposals that are not supported by evidence and focus on identifying ways for Cafcass to protect children's beneficial parental relationships. We will be consulting you further on this over the coming weeks and months.

Click here for the full membership of the Board can be found in the Terms of Reference.

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