CAFCASS has published its strategy for 2026 – 2029. It is not a new Act of Parliament and it does not rewrite the Family Procedure Rules. But its commitment to hearing children earlier, strengthening safeguarding, reducing delay and improving consistency could mark an important change in private children proceedings. It is a welcome move forward, but only if one principle runs through every case: Evidence must come before presumption. The Family Court cannot safely operate on

Children don’t live on tax thresholds. So why is the child-maintenance system still so heavily dependent on tax thresholds? I was disappointed by the BBC Panorama programme Child Maintenance: Parents Under Pressure. The programme rightly highlighted the enormous pressure that child-maintenance disputes can place on families. However it missed what I believe is one of the most important issues in the modern child-maintenance debate. There was little focus on:- Self-employed pa

A Call for a Mandatory Three-Tier Evidence-Based Child Maintenance Assessment Framework By Deanna Newell Founder – DN Family Law Campaign Lead – Reform That Works www.dnfamilylaw.co.uk Bright Blue is proposing major changes to taxation → Government is considering how different forms of income should be treated → therefore Government should also examine whether CMS adequately assesses complex income → introduce a three-tier evidence-based system. Children Should Not Lose Out B

By Deanna Newell Founder, DN Family Law | Campaign Lead – Reform That Works A campaign for a fairer, safer and more evidence-led system For more than a year, I have been campaigning for meaningful reform of the Family Justice and Child Maintenance systems. My campaign, Reform That Works, was created around a simple principle: Children deserve a system that understands their real circumstances — and families deserve a system that is fair, evidence-led, proportionate and focuse

We need to talk about the victims that nobody wants to talk about. Domestic abuse is not exclusively a women’s issue. Men can be victims. Women can be perpetrators. Children can become victims too. The latest ONS figures for England and Wales estimate that 1.5 million men experienced domestic abuse in the year ending March 2025, alongside 2.2 million women. Overall, around 3.8 million adults experienced domestic abuse. The Crime Survey - Domestic abuse victim characteristi

A message from the frontline of mental health care As someone who works within an NHS mental health crisis team I see first-hand what happens when people reach breaking point. Mental health crisis services save lives. They provide vital support to people during some of the most difficult moments of their lives. However, we must also recognise a wider reality: crisis services are often responding to the consequences of problems that have developed over many years. Hospitals an

Reform That Works: Building a Fairer, Safer and More Transparent Family Justice System Family justice decisions can change the course of a child’s life. When parents separate and disputes arise about finances, child arrangements or safeguarding, the system must have the right information to make informed decisions. However, many families experience a process where complex issues are not always identified early enough. Important questions about safeguarding, domestic abuse, co

Dear United Nations, I am writing to call for greater international recognition of the importance of evidence-based family justice systems that place children’s rights, safety and welfare at the centre of every decision. When families separate, children can experience some of the most difficult and uncertain periods of their lives. Separation can involve disputes about living arrangements, parental relationships, safeguarding concerns, domestic abuse, coercive control, econom

A child’s safety should never depend on assumptions, competing narratives or a system that identifies risk only after harm has occurred. Every time a child is harmed during court-ordered contact with an unsafe parent, society is left asking the same question: Why was contact prioritised over safety? This is not about one parent, one family or one individual decision. It is about whether our family justice system has the right processes to identify risk, understand complex fam

As the House of Lords examines the impact of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, campaigners call for stronger assessment, earlier intervention, and a child-centred family justice system Why this matters now: Parliament examines whether children are truly being protected The House of Lords Domestic Abuse Act 2021 Committee is examining one of the most important questions facing family justice today: Are children who experience, witness or are affected by domestic abuse receiving the

By Deanna Newell, Founder of DN Family Law Child maintenance exists for one fundamental reason: children should continue to receive financial support from both parents after separation. The principle is simple. The reality for many families is not. The Child Maintenance Service was created at a time when many financial circumstances were more straightforward. For many families, income was primarily employment-based, with parents paid through PAYE, making earnings easier to id

It’s Time to Follow the Money The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) was created to ensure that children receive financial support from both parents after separation. That principle is one that almost everyone agrees with. So why are some children still growing up in financial hardship while parents with far greater financial means can, in some cases, be assessed on a declared income of just £12,570 ? The answer is uncomfortable. The current Child Maintenance Service largely rel

I fully support Claire Waxman OBE’s call for victims’ voices to remain central when decisions are made about the justice system. The pressures facing the prison system are real, but so are the rights, safety, and confidence of victims and survivors. Promises made to victims must be delivered. A justice system cannot maintain public trust if those who have experienced harm do not feel heard, protected, or recognised. The same principle must apply within the family justice syst