The Family Solutions Group (FSG), comprising senior lawyers, judges, academics, charities and family welfare professionals, proposes creating a ‘family solutions system’.
It advocates a less combative system, built on the Children Act and the legal principles of child welfare and co-operative parenting, as outlined in its report, ‘What About Me? Reframing Support for Families following Parental Separation’.
Parents and children would be offered early information and support at the start of the separation process, so needs could be assessed, and the right route chosen.
‘We can no longer ignore the mental health risks for children and parents by framing all family separations as legal disputes,’ said FSG chair Helen Adam. ‘If the only provision on offer is one which pits parents against each other during a time of already heightened emotions, then we are simply adding fuel to the fire.’
