Updated results from a Tri-borough care proceedings pilot have found there were no significant differences between the pattern of final orders made on cases in the pilot year with a reduced duration compared to the year prior.
The Tri-borough care proceedings pilot was conducted by London boroughs Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham and Westminster. All of the boroughs worked in conjunction with the courts and care organisation Cafcass during the year-long study, which aimed to reduce the duration of care proceedings down to 26 weeks.
According to Family Law Week, the report was published as an update of a previous evaluation released in September 2013, with initial results revealing that the median duration of care proceedings had dropped significantly from 49 weeks to 27 weeks during the pilot.
The updated results confirmed these findings, highlighting that the number of case orders ending in care orders and placement orders were almost exactly the same as the previous year. Dr Jonathan Dickens, co-author of the report, suggests that these findings support the reduction in care proceedings times.
He said: “It is an important finding, to know that the drive to speed things up did not distort the court outcomes of care cases. This confirms that we can be optimistic about the benefits of speeding up care proceedings, without impairing justice.”