Family Drug and Alcohol Court model suitable for domestic abuse cases even where no substance misuse, says judge

A judge sitting in the Family Court has highlighted the successful use of the Family Drug and Alcohol Court (FDAC) model in a case where the main presenting difficulty was domestic abuse.

In London Borough A v A & Ors [2024] EWFC 46 (21 February 2024), District Judge Hughan, who heard the case at the Central Family Court, said: “The FDAC model of working is absolutely suited to helping parents who are afflicted by domestic abuse to reflect on their experiences, to gain greater insight and to achieve required change. […]  I would urge local authorities to consider referring such cases to their local FDAC.”

The proceedings related to two brothers, Child C and Child D. The district judge said that children's services had had “long-standing involvement” with the family, primarily due to reports of domestic abuse between the parents and neglect of the boys' care.

The police deemed the children's situation to be unsafe and the children were placed by the local authority in foster care. Following the grant of an emergency protection order in February 2023, the local authority made an application within care proceedings in March 2023.

District Judge Hughan said: “To the credit of the applicant London Borough A, they are signed up to FDAC. To their further credit, by the time of the first hearing, the local authority had already identified this case as suitable for FDAC.”

Following each of the parents being told about how FDAC works, both parents signed up. By late 2023, progress was such that the FDAC team proposed a return of the children to the care of the mother under a transition plan.

The mother's home is in a neighbouring borough, ‘London Borough B’.

The judge said: “I'm delighted to say that the professional assessment across the board now is that the transition home of these two boys, with quite demanding individual needs, has been a success.”

At the final hearing, the judge praised the fact that a contested final hearing had been avoided. He said: “That is a significantly more common feature of FDAC cases than standard care proceedings. The stress of a conflictual, contested final hearing has been avoided.”

District Judge Hughan put in place a 12-month supervision order and an order that the children live with their mother. He approved the arrangements for the children to spend time with their father, noting that this “reflects the boys’ interests”.

In a postcript, the judge set out the advantages he had observed from the proceedings being conducted within FDAC:

"40. We have arrived at the best plan for these children that could have been achieved. I retain significant doubts that this outcome would have been achieved in standard care proceedings. To quote my fellow FDAC judge, District Judge Tait, from a recently published judgment, this case is an example of why FDAC is so vital to the family justice system.

41. The FDAC programme is set up to provide intensive work for parents. The work is nothing other than challenging. However, the FDAC model provides the support to help parents to achieve necessary changes. It is a dynamic and on-going assessment of a process. It isn't just a snap shot assessment. FDAC offers an assessment of how a parent responds to support and interventions.

42. Without the consistent and intense nature of the support that the FDAC keyworker and team were able to put in place, I do not think we would have reached this outcome. Had the mother just been subject to assessment, absent of the keywork and other support, I fear that these children may have remained in foster care.

43. I'm not making these comments in any way to diminish the fundamentally important work of the local authority social workers in this case. I am acutely aware, however, of the pressures under which children's social workers have to operate. Their role in these proceedings, and the nature of their statutory duties, are not such that a local authority children's social worker could replicate the key work sessions provided by an FDAC keyworker. The local authority children's services departments do not routinely have access to the services and support that FDAC teams have. They also do not routinely have access to the multi-disciplinary expertise available within FDAC.

44. I want to recognise that the applicant local authority in this case has actively supported the transition of these children to their mother's care at a critical phase which has been fundamental to the success of these children being rehabilitated to their mother.

45. I also want to recognise that the local authority to be designated under the supervision order has been incredibly proactive as a non-party and its work has also been fundamental to the success of the transition home of these children.

46. The Children's Guardian has equally been very active in these proceedings and her professionalism at each stage, most notably through her commitment to supporting the transition of these boys home, has been invaluable from my perspective.

47. I have been greatly assisted in this case not only by the professionals but also by my meetings with the parents as part of the FDAC process. That has enabled me, in a very different way to standard care proceedings, actively to understand each parent's perspective and to case manage these proceedings.

48. Lastly, in authorising a copy of this judgement to be published with appropriate anonymisation, I want again to highlight that this was in effect a domestic abuse case and not a substance misuse case. The FDAC model of working is absolutely suited to helping parents who are afflicted by domestic abuse to reflect on their experiences, to gain greater insight and to achieve required change. That is exactly what has happened in this case.

49. I would urge local authorities to consider referring such cases to their local FDAC."

Lottie Winson