Nuffield Family Justice Observatory

Our new briefing paper 'Residential family assessment centres: Data trends and questions' examines the patterns around the increasing number of new registrations of residential family assessment centres across the country.

Read more here: www.nuffieldfjo.org.uk/resource/res...

NEW BRIEFING PAPER - AVAILABLE NOW

'Residential family assessment centres: Data trends and questions'

Read and download the paper here: www.nuffieldfjo.org.uk/resource/res...

This new briefing paper will be available to read and download in full on our website very soon.

We will also be sharing highlights from the paper across our Bluesky and LinkedIn.

Generation abandoned? - Nuffield Foundation Young people in care are being left further behind: we need to examine why care is not providing the right foundation for adulthood

In the UK, 93% of 16-year-olds stay at home with their families. They can’t vote, drive, or get a credit card, so it’s little surprise they’re not ready to live independently.

In this article Lisa Harker explores how it’s a very different story for children in the care system - ow.ly/kvLO50WntBK

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Speaking on the Family Law Week podcast Anne*, one of the young people who contributed to the development of the toolkit, explains why judges writing to explain their decisions to children can be so valuable.

Listen to the podcast in full here: lnkd.in/eHXejzQA

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Earlier this year, the President of the Family Division, the Rt. Hon. Andrew McFarlane published a toolkit for judges to help them in writing to the children involved in the cases before them.

www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/u...

Child-focused, data-driven: Learning from youth justice to improve family justice data - Nuffield Family Justice Observatory This paper explores whether there are lessons that the family justice system could learn from the way that data is used in the youth justice system.

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Our recently published report highlights the "fragmented" nature of data collection in the family justice system and seeks to learn lessons from youth justice to move towards continuous improvement and an ethics-driven approach to data collection & use:

www.nuffieldfjo.org.uk/resource/chi...

In depth: Family data desert is impeding improvement to court services MPs hear that the government's approach to improving family court services for children is being impeded by information gaps and the lack of a joined-up plan to enhance data collection and analysis.

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Gaps in data and a lack of a joined up plan to improve data collection is leading to a "data desert" that seriously impedes improvements to services in the family justice system, according to this article from Law Gazette.

www.lawgazette.co.uk/news-focus/i...

Good data is a vital part of a just and effective family justice system. In any organisation, the choices about what is measured reflect priorities; in Lord Darzi’s words, ‘What gets measured, get managed’.

Read more from this newly published report : www.nuffieldfjo.org.uk/resource/chi...

NEW PAPER

Good data is a vital part of a just and effective family justice system. Reliable, meaningful data not only enables people to track progress against aims and objectives but also brings transparency to how the system operates.

www.nuffieldfjo.org.uk/resource/chi...

Uncovering private family law: how often do we hear the voice of the child?  - Nuffield Family Justice Observatory This report explores the extent to which children across England and Wales participate (through the presence of court-ordered reports) and how the level of participation varies by child and case chara...

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Our research highlights the vital importance of children feeling heard and understood. It points to a system which gives children and young people options about how they want to participate: www.nuffieldfjo.org.uk/resource/unc...

‘If I had to live with mum I’d jump out of the window’ - Why two boys ended up living with their dad On the day I saw them trot across the court waiting room on the way back from meeting the judge, Jamie and Andrew* were 10 and 14. I didn’t know that at the t

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This blog post from Lucy Reid highlights the importance of child participation in court proceedings, giving an example of a case where the children felt heard and understood: transparencyproject.org.uk/if-i-had-to-...

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The data this quarter reflects the persistent use of DoL orders, and their increase over the last seven years

For further information about the needs and characteristics of children subject to DoLs applications, see our research here: www.nuffieldfjo.org.uk/wp-content/u...

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From January-March 2025 321 children were subject to deprivation of liberty (DoL) applications, which authorise the deprivation of a child’s liberty in an unregulated secure placements.

Data released by the Ministry of Justice shows 321 children subject to DoL applications January to March 2025 - Nuffield Family Justice Observatory Newly-released Ministry of Justice (MoJ) information shows that 321 children subject to DoL applications from January to March 2025

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Today, the MoJ released the latest figures on the applications for the number of children subject to deprive them of their liberty under the inherent jurisdiction of the high court, through their Family Court Statistics Quarterly release.

www.nuffieldfjo.org.uk/news/data-re...

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According to the Ministry of Justice, 1,280 children were subject to deprivation of liberty orders in 2024 in England & Wales. Lisa Harker, @nuffieldfjo.bsky.social, joins Will Hutton to explore what potential alternative approaches could look like. podfollow.com/the-we-socie...

NEW REPORT COMING SOON

We will be publishing this new report very soon and will announce the publication on our LinkedIn and Bluesky. Keep an eye out for more.

Nuffield Family Justice Observatory Director Lisa Harker appeared on the We Society podcast from Academy of Social Sciences speaking to host Will Hutton about the groundbreaking work that NFJO has undertaken on children on deprivation of liberty orders.

Listen online here: lnkd.in/dChS7DiG

What do you think about some of the questions posed by our updated report 'Recurrent care proceedings: five key areas for reflection from the research'?

www.nuffieldfjo.org.uk/resource/rec...

Share your thoughts below.

Recurrent care proceedings: five key areas for reflection from the research (update) - Nuffield Family Justice Observatory Updated briefing note bringing together key areas for reflection from research into recurrent care proceedings.

This new report updates the 2021 edition and gives five key areas for reflection. We also examine effective ways of working.

Read more from the report on our website now: www.nuffieldfjo.org.uk/resource/rec...

This spotlight paper will update the 2021 edition, notably including findings from two recent studies that have linked Cafcass and Cafcass Cymru data with health data.

We will be posting further updates when this report is available on our website.

Our brand new Data Tracker brings our data and research together into one easy-to-use dashboard.

We will be continuously adding new data to the tracker – if there is information you would like to see on our new dashboard, please message us

www.nuffieldfjo.org.uk/data-tracker

Be the first to read our latest data and research on newborn babies, and find out about upcoming events, by signing up for our bulletin.

Sign up and read previous bulletins on our website here: www.nuffieldfjo.org.uk/project/newb...

Read more from our recent report: 'Newborn babies in urgent care proceedings in England and Wales: An update' on our website now:

www.nuffieldfjo.org.uk/resource/new...

This paper analyses the number of newborn babies in care proceedings in England and Wales and the use of initial hearings that are held at short notice. For the first time, we are also able to report on the ethnicity of babies in care proceedings in England.

www.nuffieldfjo.org.uk/resource/new...

What are the experiences of parents with learning disabilities or difficulties in care proceedings? - Nuffield Family Justice Observatory Parents with learning disabilities or difficulties are over-represented in child protection processes and care proceedings and in experiencing the permanent removal of their children

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You can read more from our report 'What are the experiences of parents with learning disabilities or difficulties in care proceedings?' on our website here: www.nuffieldfjo.org.uk/resource/wha...

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We welcome the production of this film by Family Rights Group, in collaboration with Speakup Rotherham, which is a vital resource for parents with learning disabilities or difficulties and clearly and accessibly explains what they can expect.

Thank you to everyone who attended - all the speakers, learning group speakers, and every delegate who took time out of your busy week.

We will be in touch with next steps to keep this important conversation going. Together we can improve care for children and families.

www.nuffieldfjo.org.uk

Ashley John-Baptiste gave a powerful closing keynote to end the day.

Sharing his own experiences of growing up in care, he reminded us of what's possible and asked:

"Who are the individuals showing up for children who have been deprived of their liberty?"

At the end of the day, Katie Razzall shared some of the key takeaways from the learning sessions.

One message that came through time and time again was a need for joined up thinking and for continued discussion across the system.