Care applications reach record levels according to Cafcass

Care applications reach record levels according to Cafcass

The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) have reached a record number of 1,305 care applications during July 2016. This is a 16% increase on the figures from July 2015, according to their annual report.

This sharp increase in care applications has led to Cafcass working with the government in order to identify whether or not new measures need to be put into place to cater for the demand. In a recent interview with Children and Young People Now, Anthony Douglas, Cafcass’ chief executive has said that the initiatives being put into place are focusing on keeping children who could be susceptible to care applications with their families, to ensure that the care application status is kept to a minimum.

He also mentioned, that Cafcass’ main focus is currently on imminent cases, so they are planning to concern themselves with pre-proceedings, which is also in an attempt to keep children with their families to avoid a further rise in care applications.

Cafcass are currently running a pilot programme in regards to their pre-proceeding plans, which has successfully saved some cases from going to court. 

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