18
February
2015
|
09:22
Europe/London

University part of new family drug and alcohol courts unit

Researchers from The University of Manchester are part of a new national unit which will establish Family Drug and Alcohol Courts (FDAC) across England.

Dr Karen Broadhurst and Ian Jacob will be part of the new a National FDAC Development Unit funded by the Department for Education which will support the support the roll out of more of these specialist courts across England.

Comprised of practitioners, policy makers and researchers, the national unit will be dedicated to nurturing new specialist drug and alcohol courts across the country.

Parental substance misuse is the leading preventable cause of child abuse and neglect and for children at risk within the family, so FDAC offers an evidence-based alternative form of care proceeding which is proven to have better outcomes. More mothers and fathers stop misusing drugs and alcohol; fewer parents relapse; more parents resume the care of their children; there is less abuse and neglect after return home; and reunification lasts longer.

Dr Broadhurst, from the University’s School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, has a special interest in cases where the same parents lose successive infants through care proceedings. She said:  “We need to be attentive to the impact of the court process on parents as well as children – timely decisions about permanence for children are absolutely vital, but we must at the same time consider the healing potential of the court for parents who can otherwise be locked in a pattern of repeat care proceedings.

“The FDAC model is a therapeutic approach that has shown it can deliver very promising results for the whole family (whether children are returned to parents’ care or not) and its wider roll out is a hugely important step forward.”

The work of the national Unit links closely with Karen’s other research projects which include on-going work funded by the Nuffield Foundation to profile the repeat clients of the family court in England. This work was reported in an invited four-part series last year in Family Law.

Her leadership role will ensure that research findings directly inform and shape the ‘subsequent baby’ pathway that will be piloted within the New FDAC Unit. Karen’s work brings a new dimension to the work of the Midwifery and Women’s Health Group within the School, through a focus on pregnancy and parenting in complex social circumstances.

The National Unit will be based at the Coram Campus, where FDAC London is currently situated. It is led by the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, supported by a group of partner organisations - Centre for Justice Innovation, Coram, Brunel University London, The University of Manchester and RyanTunnardBrown.

You can read a blog by Dr Broadhurst on this story here.

Notes for editors

Media enquiries to:

Jamie Brown
Media Relations Officer
The University of Manchester
Tel: 0161 2758383
Email:jamie.brown@manchester.ac.uk