Family Drug and Alcohol Court
The award-winning Family Drug and Alcohol Court (FDAC) is run by Coram and the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust and is the first of its kind in the UK.
This pilot, launched in January 2008, is a new way of dealing with care proceedings when parental substance misuse causes harm to children and care proceedings are underway.
FDAC aims to help parents stabilise or stop using drugs and /or alcohol and, where possible, keep families together. It is based on a model widely used in the USA which is showing promising results.
The process involves co-ordinating a range of services so that a family’s needs and strengths are taken into account, with everyone working towards the best possible outcome for the child; a stable and safe family.
How is FDAC different?
Unlike conventional care proceedings, parents in FDAC:
- see the same judge throughout the course of the proceedings
- have regular court reviews without legal representatives
- receive support from a multi-disciplinary team linked to the court, carrying out tasks including assessment of parental substance misuse and parenting, developing intervention plans, fast access to substance misuse services and help with housing issues, domestic violence and financial hardship
- receive drug/alcohol testing via the FDAC team
- are extra offered support from volunteer parent mentors who have been through their own difficulties
- benefit from a dedicated pool of children’s guardians attached to the court.
How are families referred?
FDAC is run at the Inner London Family Proceedings Court and is currently offered to families referred via the commissing local authorities of Camden, Islington, Westminster and Hammersmith and Fulham only.
Aims of the pilot project
The pilot aims to test whether the FDAC model improves outcomes for children, in terms of children remaining or returning to their parents care, or, if parents are unable to control their substance misuse, to ensure swifter decisions to find permanent alternative homes for children. It also aims to increase the court’s confidence in making decisions without the need for reports from a wide range of external experts.
Achievements and accolades
FDAC has been recognised for its impact and innovation by three national awards:
- Children and Young People's Service Delivery Award - Guardian Public Services Award 2011
- Psychiatric Team of the Year 2011 - Royal College of Psychiatrists Awards
- Outstanding Contribution to the Field of Family Law (District Judge Nicholas Crichton) - Family Law Awards 2011
Professor Judith Harwin, of Brunel University, lead an independent evaluation of the project, funded by the Nuffield Foundation and the Home Office. It assessed whether parents on the programme are more successful in tackling their substance misuse and if so, whether their children can remain at home safely and for those already in care, be successfully returned home.
To learn more about the evaluation and its key findings, please visit here.
To read the Executive Summary of the evaluation see the menu on the right.
