In typically understated tones, a Senior Judge has warned of “looming crisis” in the family justice system. The perfect weather of a stormy increase in care proceedings, windily battered by court closures, down-cast little movement in legal aid fees and a turbulent decrease in the number of clients eligible for public funding is likely to whip up a hurricane of interest in the subject in coming weeks. And rightly so. The “imminent crisis” is obviously not good news for children who are suffering, or at risk of suffering abuse. A professional organisation for family lawyers speaks of “legal aid funding becoming more constrained; cuts to local authority funding; and further demand on finite Cafcass resources”. They agree that “it is a concern”. Indeed! It is a simple matter of internal logic, not to mention arithmetical certainty, that less money, less resources and more cases will mean that even more children will be exposed to a greater risk harm, as well as the risk of greater harm. That point cannot be overstated too much. Hurricane conditions merits more than inaction, recognition or observation. That will simply lead to destruction, devastation and desolation. The family justice system is literally in danger of being blown away. What is needed is coordinated thinking, proactive strategies and a keen sense of real urgency. Perhaps we could start with an end to talk of closing courts, a realisation that effective preparation for hurricane weather cannot be done “on the cheap” and an understanding that hard work without hard resources gives absolutely no protection against hard weather.
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