Reform That Works: What I Have Achieved So Far in My Campaign for Reform of The Family Justice and Child Maintenance System
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 focused on safeguarding.
Family separation can involve far more than disagreements about contact or maintenance payments. Families can experience complex finances, disputed child arrangements, domestic abuse, coercive control, economic abuse, safeguarding concerns, additional needs and prolonged conflict.
And yet the systems dealing with these issues can operate separately, creating gaps between family justice, safeguarding and financial assessment.
I believe that we need to do things differently.
The Mandatory Three-Tier Family Assessment Framework
One of the central proposals I have developed is a Mandatory Three-Tier Family Assessment Framework for use across Family Justice and Child Maintenance.
The principle is simple:-
IDENTIFY → ASSESS → EVIDENCE → SAFEGUARD → ESCALATE → REVIEW
Cases should receive the level of assessment appropriate to their complexity and risk.
TIER 1 — Standard Assessment
A proportionate assessment for straightforward cases where children’s arrangements and financial circumstances are clear.
TIER 2 — Enhanced Family & Financial Assessment
Additional assessment where cases involve complexity, including:-
Disputed child arrangements
Complex income structures
Self-employment or company income
Financial disputes
Repeated breaches of agreements or court orders
Children with additional needs; or
Concerns requiring further investigation
TIER 3 — Multi-Agency Safeguarding Review
A coordinated review for the most complex cases involving:-
Safeguarding concerns
Domestic abuse
Coercive control
Economic abuse
Significant conflict affecting children; or
Concerns requiring involvement from multiple agencies
The purpose is not to create unnecessary bureaucracy. It is to ensure that the right family receives the right assessment at the right time.
Protecting victims, children and families through earlier assessment
A mandatory Three-Tier Family Assessment Framework could provide a more seamless and consistent process for families affected by domestic abuse, coercive control, economic abuse and safeguarding concerns.
It could help protect victims of abuse while also identifying children who may require safeguarding.
Concerns should be identified before families reach crisis point, wherever possible.
Coercive control can affect both genders
Coercive control and domestic abuse do not affect only one gender.
A modern family justice system must therefore be gender-neutral and evidence-led.
Decisions should be based on:
Behaviour + Evidence + Risk + Safeguarding + The Child’s Welfare
.. and not on assumptions associated with whether someone is a mother or father.
Where there are allegations or evidence of coercive control, economic abuse, restrictions on a child’s relationship with a parent for financial or controlling purposes, or children being drawn into adult conflict, these concerns should be appropriately assessed.
Where the evidence and circumstances justify it, a case should be capable of being escalated to a higher tier.
Children must not become messengers
One issue that needs greater recognition is the impact of children being placed in the middle of adult disputes.
Children should not be used as messengers between parents.
They should not be expected to carry information, pass on adult communications or become responsible for managing disagreements between adults.
Where children are repeatedly brought into adult conflict and this causes emotional harm, it should be recognised as a potential emotional-welfare and safeguarding concern and assessed appropriately.
The solution is not to automatically believe one parent over another. The solution is to have a system that can properly identify concerns, gather evidence and assess risk.
Evidence must matter
A fair system must protect genuine victims while also protecting families from decisions based solely on unsupported allegations.
Where appropriate, evidence should be gathered and properly assessed, including:-
Financial information
Communications
Court orders
Professional reports
Safeguarding information
Relevant records; and
Other reliable evidence
This would help create a system based on facts, behaviour and risk, rather than assumptions.
Reforming Child Maintenance
Child maintenance is another major part of this campaign.
Children’s financial needs do not disappear because their parents separate, however, modern families can have increasingly complex financial circumstances, including:-
Self-employment
Companies
Multiple income sources
Variable income
Business interests; and
Arrangements that may not be adequately reflected by straightforward PAYE information
A system designed around straightforward employment income must be capable of recognising when a case requires greater financial scrutiny.
My campaign therefore calls for improved financial transparency, verification and evidence-based assessment.
Where appropriate, and with proper legal safeguards, better coordination between relevant agencies could help ensure that decisions affecting children are based on accurate financial information.
A more joined-up system
I believe there is a strong case for better coordination between relevant organisations, including; Child Maintenance Service, Family Courts, Cafcass, HMRC, Safeguarding agencies, and other professionals and charities.
The aim should not be unrestricted information sharing. It should be lawful, proportionate and safeguarded information sharing where necessary to protect children and ensure accurate decision-making.
Families should not have to repeatedly explain the same circumstances to different parts of the system while important information remains disconnected.
A more seamless process could identify complexity and safeguarding risks earlier.
What I have achieved so far
This campaign has moved beyond simply raising awareness.
Over the course of the campaign, I have developed proposals, engaged with Parliament and Government, submitted evidence and continued to push for practical reform.
Developed a detailed reform proposal
I have developed the Mandatory Three-Tier Family Assessment Framework, setting out how cases could be assessed according to complexity, financial circumstances, safeguarding concerns and risk.
The proposal is designed to be proportionate, evidence-led and child-centred.
Engaged with Parliament and MPs
I have written to and engaged with Members of Parliament about the need for reform and asked for these issues to be raised at Government level.
I have also continued to develop recommendations that could be considered as part of wider family justice and child maintenance reform.
Parliamentary Questions
Written Parliamentary Questions have been submitted to seek Government responses on issues relevant to family justice and child maintenance reform.
This is an important part of democratic accountability: asking Government to explain what is being done, what evidence exists and what further action may be required.
Engaged with the Child Maintenance Service
I have raised concerns and proposals relating to the Child Maintenance system, including the need for greater financial transparency and a system capable of dealing with complex financial circumstances.
Provided evidence to the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 Committee inquiry
As part of my campaign, I have provided evidence to the Committee’s inquiry into the effectiveness and implementation of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, with a particular focus on children as victims of domestic abuse.
This is an important part of the campaign because children can be affected by domestic abuse even when the abuse is not directed at them personally.
The effects of domestic abuse can continue after separation and can intersect with:-
Child arrangements
Communication between parents
Safeguarding concerns
Financial disputes
Coercive control; and
Ongoing family conflict
My evidence has therefore highlighted the importance of ensuring that family justice and safeguarding systems properly recognise the experiences and needs of children.
This supports the wider principle behind my Three-Tier Framework:
Children must be recognised, assessed and safeguarded — and not overlooked whilst systems focus solely on the dispute between adults.
Developed and submitted evidence-based policy proposals
I have developed proposals addressing:-
Family justice reform
Child maintenance reform
Safeguarding
Coercive control
Economic abuse
Financial transparency
Children’s welfare; and
Better coordination between relevant systems
Submitted a law reform proposal
A law reform proposal has also been submitted to the Law Commission of England and Wales through its Your Ideas for Law Reform process.
This forms part of my wider effort to take practical reform proposals to the organisations responsible for considering changes to law and policy.
Worked with families and professionals
The campaign has also been informed by engagement with families and professionals who understand the difficulties created when family justice, safeguarding and financial systems do not work effectively together.
Lived experience matters.
Professional expertise matters.
Evidence matters.
Good reform should bring these perspectives together.
From campaigning to testing reform
I am not asking Government to implement an untested system overnight. I am however calling for a pilot programme, which, ifproperly designed, would test the Three-Tier Framework in selected areas and independently evaluate whether it:-
Identifies complex cases earlier
Improves safeguarding
Improves financial transparency
Reduces unnecessary delays
Reduces avoidable pressure on courts
Improves decision-making
Supports victims of abuse
Better identifies children requiring safeguarding; and
Improves outcomes for children and families
The evidence from the pilot should then determine whether the model should be expanded, changed or further developed.
Recommendations to make reform better
I am calling for the Government to consider:-
1. Pilot the Three-Tier Family Assessment Framework
Test the model in different areas and independently evaluate its effectiveness.
2. Introduce earlier screening
Identify coercive control, economic abuse, domestic abuse and safeguarding risks at an earlier stage.
3. Strengthen financial assessment
Improve financial disclosure, verification and the identification of complex income circumstances.
4. Create clearer escalation pathways
Cases should be able to move between tiers when new evidence or risks emerge.
5. Improve multi-agency coordination
Relevant agencies should work together more effectively, with appropriate legal safeguards and data protection.
6. Keep decisions evidence-led and gender-neutral
No parent should automatically be treated as the victim or perpetrator because of their gender.
7. Protect children from adult conflict
Children should not be used as messengers or placed in the middle of parental disputes.
8. Ensure children’s voices are appropriately heard
Children’s welfare and views should be considered appropriately without placing responsibility for resolving adult disputes on them.
9. Introduce clear timescales
Families should not be left for years without appropriate assessment, safeguarding intervention or financial decision-making.
10. Independently evaluate the reform
Any pilot should be independently evaluated, with findings published transparently.
This is not about mothers versus fathers
This point is fundamental to my campaign!
This is not about favouring mothers.
It is not about favouring fathers.
It is about protecting children and getting the assessment right.
A fair system should be capable of protecting a genuine victim of abuse.
It should also be capable of identifying when a child requires safeguarding.
It should be capable of investigating complex financial circumstances.
And it should be capable of distinguishing genuine risk from unsupported allegations.
That requires a system based on:-
Fairness
Evidence
Accountability
Safeguarding
Proportionality
A system that puts children first.
Why I will continue campaigning
I believe reform should not simply be about changing legislation.
Reform should be about asking whether the system actually works for the children and the families who depend upon it.
When concerns are identified too late, families can reach crisis point.
When financial information is incomplete, children can lose out.
When safeguarding information is disconnected, risks can be missed.
When children are placed in adult conflict, they can carry the emotional consequences.
And when systems operate in isolation, families can fall between the gaps.
We can do better. We must do better.
The next stage of Reform That Works
My next objective is to continue bringing these proposals to Parliament, Government, professionals and organisations involved in family justice, child maintenance and safeguarding.
I want to see serious consideration given to a pilot trial of the Three-Tier Family Assessment Framework, followed by independent evaluation and evidence-based decisions about future implementation.
This is not reform for the sake of reform. It is about building a system that is:-
FAIRER - for both parents and children
SAFER - for families experiencing abuse and safeguarding concerns
MORE TRANSPARENT - when financial circumstances need to be assessed
MORE EVIDENCE-LED - so decisions are based on information, behaviour and risk
MORE CHILD-CENTRED - so children’s welfare remains at the heart of the process
Reform That Works
For more than a year, I have continued to campaign because I believe families deserve better systems.
I have written to Parliament.
I have engaged with MPs and Government.
I have submitted Parliamentary Questions.
I have developed a detailed reform framework.
I have engaged with the Child Maintenance Service.
I have provided evidence to the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 Committee inquiry. specifically highlighting children as victims of domestic abuse.
I have developed and submitted law reform proposals.
And I will continue to put forward practical recommendations for change.
The campaign now needs to move from recognising the problems to properly testing the solutions.
Children should not have to wait years for systems to understand their family circumstances.
Families should not have to navigate disconnected systems.
Victims should not be overlooked.
Parents should be treated fairly.
And safeguarding must happen early enough to make a difference.
At the right time.
Reform That Works
Deanna Newell | Founder - DN Family Law | Campaign Lead - Reform That Works
Advocacy for truth-tellers, survivors, and the children who deserve better
