Assessment of pre-proceedings processes in children's social care

Masson, Judith and Dickens, Jonathan (2017). Assessment of pre-proceedings processes in children's social care. [Data Collection]. Colchester, Essex: UK Data Archive. 10.5255/UKDA-SN-851380

This project will examine local authority decision-making about child protection in the wake of the Baby Peter tragedy. Under child protection procedures introduced in 2008, local authorities must send parents a formal letter to invite them to a meeting before applying to the court for care proceedings (this does not apply where a child needs immediate protection). This letter qualifies the parents for legal aid and they can bring a legal adviser to the meeting with the social worker. This new procedure is intended to avoid court proceedings, either by helping parents understand the importance of working with the local authority to improve their care or by obtaining parents' agreement for their child to live with relatives or foster carers. Where proceedings are not avoided it is hoped that the discussions will improve the preparation of cases, reduce disputes and cut the time proceedings take; The research will examine how local authorities use these procedures, how successful they are in diverting cases from the courts and what impact they have on cases which do go to court. As well as examining local authority files and interviewing practitioners, the researchers will observe meetings and interview parents.

Data description (abstract)

The Public Law Outline (PLO), introduced in April 2008 changed what was required of local authorities seeking to protect children through court proceedings. It imposed a pre-proceedings process to be used in all cases where the threshold for legal intervention (Children Act 1989, s.31) was met but proceedings to protect children were not immediately required. The process involves the local authority sending the parents a letter setting out their concerns and inviting them to a formal meeting with the social worker. The letter entitles the parents to legal aid for advice and representation at a pre-proceedings meeting at which plans for the children will be discussed. The process is intended to avoid the unnecessary use of care proceedings by encouraging the parents to work co-operatively with children’s social care services to improve their parenting or, if this is not possible, to narrow the issues in dispute and ensure proceedings are better prepared. The aim of the research is to examine the operation of the pre-proceedings process to see whether and how it is achieving what was intended. Specifically, the research establishes: 1) The extent to which local authorities use processes before starting care proceedings; 2) The similarities and differences between cases where process is and is not used. 3) The practices social workers, local authority lawyers, parents and parents representatives adopt in pre-proceedings meetings; 4) The impact of the process on child protection cases; and 5) parents' perceptions of the pre-proceedings process and its impact on their relationship with the Children's Social Care Department. Data sources included: Cases schedules completed by researchers from 207 Local authority legal department case files and court bundles; 69 in-depth interviews with professionals (lawyers, social workers and social work managers); fieldworker notes of 36 observations of pre-proceedings meetings; and 25 in-depth interviews with parents.

Data creators:
Creator Name Affiliation ORCID (as URL)
Masson Judith University of Bristol
Dickens Jonathan University of East Anglia
Sponsors: ESRC
Grant reference: RES-062-23-2226
Topic classification: Social welfare policy and systems
Society and culture
Keywords: children, protection (safety), court cases, social and welfare policy
Project title: Families on the edge of care proceedings: the operation and impact of pre-proceedings processes in children's social care
Grant holders: Judith Masson, Jonathan Dickens
Project dates:
FromTo
1 April 201030 June 2012
Date published: 16 May 2014 09:19
Last modified: 06 Jul 2017 15:04

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