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Putting Children First Through Understanding, Evidence and Early Support. Why Change Is Needed When a family reaches the Family Court, behind every application is a child. For some families, the difficulties are often about communication, routines or disagreements over parenting arrangements. For others, the situation is much more complex. Families may be dealing with domestic abuse, coercive control, financial abuse, safeguarding concerns or ongoing conflict that is having a

A headline recently stopped me in my tracks: “Single mothers could be £10,000 worse off if they marry.” Whether that figure applies to every family isn’t the point. The question is far bigger. Have we created a system that sometimes makes family stability financially harder while unintentionally rewarding conflict? Before anyone jumps to conclusions, let me be absolutely clear. This is not an attack on single mothers. I was a single parent myself. I know what it feels like to

One of the most concerning issues raised by separated parents is the relationship between child maintenance calculations and disputes over overnight care arrangements. Under the current Child Maintenance Service (CMS) framework, the number of overnight stays a child has with the paying parent can affect the level of child maintenance payable. While this reflects the principle of shared day-to-day care, some parents report that disagreements about overnight contact become clos

Reforming the Family Court and Child Maintenance System Through Evidence-Based Early Intervention Too many families enter systems that react to conflict instead of identifying the real issues from the very beginning. Children can become caught in lengthy disputes while safeguarding concerns, coercive and controlling behaviour, emotional abuse, financial abuse and mental health needs are not always identified early enough. The debate has become increasingly focused on labels i

Every year, thousands of families enter the Family Court system and the Child Maintenance Service hoping for fair decisions that protect their children. Too often, they find a system that reacts to conflict instead of identifying the causes of it. Children are left waiting. Parents become trapped in lengthy disputes. Mental health deteriorates. Public money is spent managing conflict instead of resolving it. This has to change. One of the biggest problems is that we spend too

By Deanna Newell One in six autistic pupils in the UK has not attended school at all since September. Around one in five autistic pupils are also persistently absent, missing significant periods of their education. These are not just statistics, they represent thousands of children whose futures are being shaped by systems that are failing them. This is not because autistic children do not want to learn. It is because too many schools, health services and public bodies are

The reality behind the social media celebration Behind many Father’s Day and Mother’s Day posts online, there is another reality that often goes unseen. For some parents, these days are not celebrations. They are painful reminders of children they have not seen for months or even years. Old photos saved on phones. Messages left unanswered. And a persistent hope that contact with their child will one day be restored. These experiences are often invisible in public conversation

We call upon HM Government to reform the family justice system to ensure that children are protected from delay, conflict, and fragmented decision-making through the introduction of a structured Family Justice Triage System. At present, many children are affected by prolonged parental conflict, delays in family court proceedings, and limited coordination between family courts, the Child Maintenance Service, and safeguarding agencies. Some cases involve domestic abuse, coerciv

Some victims don’t disappear, they are trapped long before they vanish. Coercive Control Is Not Love, It Is a Crime She didn’t disappear because she chose to leave.
She disappeared because something in her life left no safe way out. The case of Debbie Griggs is often remembered as a long-running missing person investigation that ended in tragedy. However, beyond the headlines, it also reflects something far more common and far less visible; coercive control and domestic ab

We call upon HM Government to reform the family justice system to ensure that children are protected from delay, conflict, and fragmented decision-making through the introduction of a structured Family Justice Triage System. At present, many children are affected by prolonged parental conflict, delays in family court proceedings, and limited coordination between family courts, child maintenance services, and safeguarding agencies. Some cases may also involve factors such as d

Everyone is blaming the family courts. The courts are accused of getting it wrong, failing children, ignoring abuse, and allowing injustice to continue. While there are certainly areas that need reform, there is a difficult truth that many people do not want to hear: The courts can only make decisions based on the evidence placed before them. Family courts are designed to assess facts, truth, and evidence. And yet all too often they are presented with competing narratives in

At the start of every family court and Child Maintenance Service application, professionals should complete a mandatory triage assessment. The purpose is simple: identify risk, identify vulnerability, identify coercive control, and identify the financial reality of the family before allegations become entrenched. Professionals should ask:- How long was the relationship? Were children involved? Did both parents work during the relationship? If one parent did not work, why? Was

The government’s proposed reforms for cohabiting couples have rightly been welcomed as a long-overdue step forward. Stronger rights for unmarried partners, greater recognition of economic abuse, and improved protections when relationships end are all positive developments. But there is a question policymakers, solicitors, barristers, and ministers must answer honestly:- What good are legal rights if people cannot afford to enforce them? From my own lived experience of coerciv

Introduction I am tired of the stereotypes. Not every paying parent is a deadbeat. Not every receiving parent is entitled. The reality of separated families is far more complex than the labels often used in public debate. Child maintenance was created to ensure that children receive financial support from both parents following separation. That principle remains as important today as it ever was however, family structures, employment patterns, and financial arrangements ha

The UK child maintenance framework, governed primarily by the Child Support Act 1991 and administered through the Child Maintenance Service (Child Maintenance Service), was designed with a simple purpose: To ensure that children are financially supported after family separation. But for too many families, the reality is something very different. Instead of reducing conflict, it can entrench it.Instead of supporting cooperation, it can deepen mistrust.Instead of protecting chi

Family justice in the UK is under increasing pressure. Family courts and the Child Maintenance Service are dealing with rising caseloads, complex financial disputes, and deeply conflicted parenting arrangements. And yet despite dealing with the same families, these systems often operate in isolation from one another. This creates a serious gap in understanding the reality of family breakdown. At the centre of this problem is a fundamental issue: decisions are frequently made

At the start of every Family Court and Child Maintenance Service application, professionals should complete a mandatory triage assessment. The purpose is simple: identify risk, vulnerability, coercive control, financial abuse, economic abuse, safeguarding concerns, and the true financial circumstances of the family before allegations become entrenched. Professionals should ask:- How long was the relationship or marriage? Were children involved? Who was the primary caregiver d

There is an uncomfortable truth at the heart of child maintenance that many people avoid saying out loud: Child maintenance systems were never designed for parents who willingly and fairly support their children. They exist because, in too many cases, trust has already broken down. Before the paperwork.Before the calculations. Before the Child Maintenance Service (CMS). Before enforcement. There is usually a period of trying. Trying to co-parent. Trying to agree arrangemen

The family justice system is overwhelmed. The Child Maintenance Service is overwhelmed. Families are caught between two systems that often fail to communicate effectively with one another, while children are left living with the consequences. What we need is not more blame. What we need is a better process. We need an effective triage system. Just as the NHS uses triage to identify needs and risks early, the family courts and child maintenance services could benefit from usin

Facts First. Children First The Family Court and Child Maintenance systems are supposed to protect children. And yet too often they operate in isolation, failing to recognise how deeply connected family relationships, finances, safeguarding concerns, and child welfare really are. This is not about mothers versus fathers. It is not about contact versus maintenance. This is about ensuring decisions affecting children are based on evidence, transparency, and that the full pictur