Chris Beckett

Children in Limbo: Cases Where Court Decisions Have Taken Two Years or More

In spite of section 1(2) of the 1989 Children Act,* the time taken to conclude care proceedings has been getting longer year on year since the Acts implementation. The average length of proceedings in 2001 was about 47 weeks and a significant number of children are having to wait over two years for a court decision. Chris Beckett and Bridget McKeigue looked at a small group of cases where children have waited for over two years. In this article they examine the consequences for the children of this long wait in immediate terms, such as number of placement moves and assessments experienced, and in the long term as a result of reduced options and possible psychological harm. They then consider the possible causes of these long waits, identifying a number of factors but focusing in particular on the long and repetitive assessment process that seems to have typically taken place.

The reality principle: realism as an ethical obligation

Although a ‘realist’ stance is sometimes contrasted with a ‘principled’ one, this article argues that realism is, of itself, an important ethical principle. Acknowledging the problems that exist in defining ‘reality’, and the fact that the nature of reality is contested, the article nevertheless insists on an ‘out there’ reality. It asserts that the existence of this external reality is, in practice, generally accepted, and indeed must be accepted if we are to make the important distinction between truth and falsehood. The article proposes that discourse which is not grounded in the concrete reality of the specific situations in which social work is practised is potentially harmful because it results in a decoupling of language from what it is supposed to represent and creates a potential for language to be used to deceive. The article then discusses ‘Realism about Outcomes’ and ‘Realism about Context’ as two out of a number of different areas in which realism is important in practice and policy making. It concludes that genuinely ethical social work practice and policy making require that we attempt to engage with the world as it actually is.

Waiting for Court Decisions: A Kind of Limbo

One of the specific objectives of the Children Act 1989 was to reduce the duration of care proceedings, since it was recognised that a long period of uncertainty was likely to be harmful to children. But care proceedings have in fact been increasing steadily in length since the Act was implemented in 1991. Chris Beckett presents the evidence for this, reviews the available literature on the possible reasons and suggests that further attention needs to be given to the effects on children of such delays, which could be considered a form of ‘system abuse’.

The Ethics of Control

In the flyer for the ‘Ethics that Work’ conference organized by this journal in November 2008, we raised the question as to whether teaching, writing and research about ethics in the social welfare field provided students with effective tools that they could ‘actually use to guide their practice and help them resolve practice dilemmas’. Or was it possible, we asked, that professional education in reality offered ‘little more than rhetorical devices − /approved buzzwords and noble-sounding sentiments − /that can be bolted on as necessary after the event, but have very little impact on actual practice decisions’?

The Wait Gets Longer: An Analysis of Recent Information on Court Delays

The length of care proceedings in England has been growing steadily longer since the implementation of the Children Act 1989, even though reducing delay was one of the Acts specific objectives. Figures from eight areas show that, for cases ending in 2000, the average duration ranged from over eight months to a year, depending on area. A significant number of children are waiting much longer. More than ten per cent of cases in a sample from one local authority had been waiting more than two years for a court decision. Chris Beckett presents the evidence and discusses the reasons as well as some possible ways forward.

Delay and Anxiety in Care Proceedings: Grounds for Hope?

This paper draws on an evaluation of a pilot project in three London boroughs (the ‘Tri-borough’ authorities) which had the aim of reducing the length of care proceedings to 26 weeks, in advance of nationwide moves in the same direction. Rather than looking at this as yet another battleground between professional autonomy and bureaucratic rigidity, the authors focus on the psychological aspects both of court delay itself and of setting time limits, considering the impact of each on the children, parents and professionals involved. The challenge is to balance the pressures of time and the need for thoroughness, being mindful of the uncertainty and anxiety that pervade care proceedings. The pilot succeeded in greatly reducing the average length of care proceedings. Professionals involved in the project, including those whose job was to represent the interests of parents and children, seemed satisfied that this had not been achieved at the expense of thoroughness, and indeed that shorter proceedings might help to reduce the overall level of distress and anxiety that children and parents endure. On the other hand, the new approach adds to the pressures on the professionals themselves. If the changes are to be sustained, the anxiety involved in making these life-changing decisions about children must be recognised, and adequate support offered to those who have to make them.

Family Placements from a Chinese Institution

In this article Chris Beckett and June Thoburn look at an innovative fostering project in Shanghai, which places children from a large childrens institution. They consider placement outcomes for 220 children placed over a two-year period. A number of variables are discussed which might impact on placement outcomes, including age, gender, level of disability, length of time spent in the institution and age at time of placement. The length of time spent in institutional care and age at placement were found to be predictors of the placements breaking down during the first few years after placement. Younger children moved quickly into foster homes were most likely to settle there successfully. This finding is in accord with other studies that have found that early institutional care can have adverse long-term consequences for development. This pattern, it is suggested, does not necessarily reflect poor physical care within the institution. It may simply be a consequence of the fact that an environment of this kind cannot provide the kinds of relationships which are necessary for optimal development. The authors believe that looking at placement outcomes for projects of this kind provides a valuable opportunity to learn more about childrens vulnerabilities and about the kinds of post-placement support which are needed.

Making a target work: messages from a pilot of the six-month time limit on care proceedings in England

Since 2014, it has been a legal requirement in England and Wales for child care proceedings to be concluded, apart from ‘exceptional cases’, within 26 weeks. When this was first proposed there were concerns that it might lead to poorer decision-making, or to delay being squeezed to either side of the court proceedings, before or afterwards. This paper reports on the messages from a pilot programme to hit the 26-week target that took place in London in 2012-13. The study compared the progress of the cases from the pilot year with those the year before, 180 cases in total, involving 256 children. The local authorities involved were able to achieve considerable improvements in timeliness, not just in the proceedings, but for the pre- and post-court processes too; and the quality and fairness of decisions did not seem to be impaired, in terms of the plans for the children and subsequent outcomes over a period of two years. ‘Targets’ do not generally find a warm welcome in the social work literature, but this paper shows that when collaboratively implemented, with a measure of flexibility and adequate resources, they can be an effective way of helping to achieve positive change.

Community Lost: the State. Civil Society and Displaced Survivors of Hurricane Katrina

changes in welfare systems across the UK. In assuming that for ‘British’ one may read English, this volume is anything but novel in welfare studies. At a time when it has never been more necessary to take stock of the effects of devolution and continued UK control over benefits and the economy from Westminster, this book stands as a reminder that social scientists have a duty to analyse change as it happens and to formulate credible criticism in response.