A court that solves problems?!

The UK’s Family Drug and Alcohol Courts are one model for dealing with family and social problems in a better way. They are designed to be not adversarial, but supportive and problem-solving instead.

Evidence indicates that FDAC gets much better results than when parents go to court in normal care proceedings. A research study at Lancaster and Brunel Universities found:

• More parents had solved their problems by the end of the case in court;
• More children are able to live with their parents at the end of FDAC proceedings;
• The changes parents make are more likely to be long-term;
• Parents have a better experience in the FDAC court process and felt they have been given the best chance possible to make the changes necessary.

Evaluation of the outcomes of FDAC cases recommended extending the availability of this helpful, problem-solving court system. (Interestingly, by comparison, we know of no conventional family court anywhere in the world that has conducted research into its outcomes, or had such research carried out in a scientific manner.)