Early Intervention for Better Outcomes in Family Law Disputes
supportingfamilies.ie
Introduction
Separation and divorce mark the end of a marriage or relationship, and the end of a particular kind of family. The transition to a new family structure can be relatively smooth for some parents and children. But for many others, it leads to disputes that can be lengthy and emotive. If a parental dispute reaches the legal system, there is a significant risk of harm to individuals and to family relationships. Children can find themselves caught in the middle of a conflict between their parents. This can be damaging, even if the legal dispute of their parents is only short term. But when parental disputes are sustained the outcomes can be severe - over the short and long term. This can impact children, their parents, their grandparents, and their wider social networks.
Prolonged legal disputes between parents can impact children in several ways. The most common is the breakdown of a child’s relationship with one parent, which can be due to several causes: 1. Normal preferences for one parent 2. Loyalty conflict 3. Anxiety 4. Childhood depression 5. Historical mistreatment of the child by the parent they resist. 6. Accidental or deliberate alienation of the child from one parent by another parent 7. Adult psychological problems - including substance abuse. These causes, individually or collectively, can be the gateway to protracted family litigation. The legal dispute then has the potential to further damage family members and their relationships. Prolonged family law disputes present a unique and challenging situation for the Courts system. Historically, courts are designed to resolve disputes of fact or interpretation. However, they are not intended to resolve disputes which have their roots in emotional or relational issues. Without the right supports, the progress of family disputes through the courts may simply make a conflict worse. This leads to deteriorating outcomes for both children and parents. At the most serious end of the conflict spectrum, children may be cut off completely from a parent. This has a negative impact on their own physical and mental health, as well as that of their parents and grandparents.
At the most serious end of the conflict spectrum, children may be cut off completely from a parent.
What does this project aim to achieve? The Supporting Families initiative looks to address these negative outcomes. We aim to anticipate, mitigate, and eliminate issues caused by legally contested parental disputes. This will be achieved through a pilot project of 100 ‘first-time’ cases that come before the Dublin Family Circuit Court. Our hope is that a series of targeted supports can improve outcomes for all family members. These will focus on education, therapy, and dispute resolution. Our aim is to intervene at an early stage before family relationships become damaged beyond repair. Crucially, this pilot project will also provide evidence on effective practices and supports. These learnings that can be used for the long-term benefit of many families in the future. This pilot project intends, in an Irish context, to develop on learnings and experiences gleaned from equivalent projects in International Common Law Jurisdictions, in particular in New Zealand (The “Christchurch Early Intervention Program” and “National Early Intervention Process”) and Canada (“Early Intervention Case Conferences”).
Context and Opportunity Aims and Outcomes We aim to provide tailored supports and resources to improve emotional, physical, and psychological outcomes for all participants. We believe these supports will: • improve the wellbeing of affected parents and children;
This project builds on the recently published work of the Joint Committee on Justice and Equality Report on Reform of the Family Law System (2019). This report specifically called for the following: In private family law matters, key services should be available to permit family law judges to refer couples or parties to skilled personnel to: > Draw up parenting plans
• protect and reinforce ongoing contact between children and both parents;
> Carry out parenting capacity assessments
• support the mental health of all the members of a conflicted family.
> D eal with anger management programmes in domestic violence cases
• resolve conflicts for shorter cases and fewer court applications;
> Monitor custody and access orders when they break down and facilitate their restoration > Engage in family therapy; or
• preserve a greater proportion of family income and assets to meet future needs
> Implement supervised access orders
How will this project work - and what families will benefit? This project will invite 100 sets of litigating parents and their children to participate. These families will be selected using a screening process. We will look for disputes likely to lead to protracted litigation, especially where childparent relations are at risk. We will also ensure that all participants do so with the support of the judge presiding over their litigation. Eligible participants will then be offered educational, therapeutic and dispute resolution services. These supports will be given over the next two years regardless of how long their litigation lasts. Project researchers will also interview family members at three points during the two-years. These interviews will take place after they consent to take part, after a year, and at the end.
What is the nature of the supports offered to the project families? Below is a proposed list of possible supports that this project will offer to the participating families. With the exception of the first, all supports can be provided at any stage during the two year process. We will select the best supports, based on the views of the family’s key worker or a court-appointed assessor, and with the consent of participants.
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A 12-hour group-based parent educational programme This will be tailored to the specific needs of family members identified in the screening interviews. This is the only element that will be compulsory for participating parents. An adult counselling programme This service will offer emotional support to parents. It will help them to identify better ways of managing themselves in the context of the conflict with their ex-partner. This will include identifying and managing the strong emotions of significant loss - such as anger and sadness . A child and adolescent counselling programme This programme will provide emotional support to individual children and teens in the context of their parents’ conflict. This will aim assist them in developing coping skills. These could include improved communication and critical thinking. The goal is to help them find less impactful responses to their parents’ conflict.
family therapy 4 Aprogramme A team of family therapists will be available to respond to relationship difficulties within the family unit. This will take place if the assessor or key project worker believes the family could benefit from and will respond well to this support.
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A multiple family group programme This 8-week, 2-hour per week, group-based programme offers parallel supports to all family members. This programme will have a particular focus on breakdown of contact and relationship between a child and parent. Participation will be required by both parents and affected children.
parent counselling/ 6 Amediation programme Participation in this programme will help parents draw up parenting plans for the short and long term. These will help find a style of coparenting and communication that is right for them. This should help resolve a range of minor disputes which can affect their own and their children’s day-to-day lives.
supervised access 7 Aprogramme This will be offered from a single location and will offer broad support to families that need this service. As a baseline, it will provide a safe and supportive atmosphere for satisfactory parent-child contact. But it will also aim to identify a range of specific skills that need development for each participating family. The goal is to enable family contact to progress beyond the constraints of supervised access. assessment 8 An programme This programme will be delivered by qualified and experienced mental health professionals. They will be available to assist with the completion of court ordered parental capacity or similar assessments in a timely way. This can take place no matter at what stage in the project these assessments are requested by a court.
Who will provide the supports? Each project element will be organised and delivered by specific teams of professionals. Most will be provided by existing service agencies, or by a consortium of qualified private practitioners. Each participating family will have its own Supporting Families key worker. Similarly, each support programme will have its own coordinator. Our goal is to ensure that family members receive the necessary support as soon as they can avail of it.
We need your support to make this project happen. This project will need the support of a wide range of stakeholders, starting with the Courts Service and family law judges. We will also need the support of family law practitioners, and both statutory and voluntary family support services. Your support will be essential to fund and facilitate this initiative over a two-year period. Protracted family litigation is a significant drain on time and costs in the Courts system, quite apart from the damage it does to families. The early interventions used in this proposed initiative will be significantly less costly. When the research phase of this project has received funding we will provide an interim update. This will be issued at the start of the project, and will offer more information on the research that will run parallel to this project. We believe that Supporting Families will be a low-risk, high-return investment. We think it has the potential to reduce costs and delays within the court service. More importantly, we think it carries the likelihood of greatly improving the lives of many children and parents.
Who is behind this initiative?
This initiative is proposed by Professor Jim Sheehan and a team of multi-disciplinary mental health professionals, supported by a University-based research team. The mental health professionals behind this project have all assisted the Dublin Family Circuit Court over many years as Section 47 and Section 32 assessors, and in other roles. If you have any enquiries about the participants in this initiative, please get in touch using the contact details below.
Supporting Families www.supportingfamilies.ie info@supporting families.ie Address: Care of Carney McCarthy Solicitors Block 1 Clonskeagh Square Clonskeagh Road Dublin D14 P8X9 Telephone: (01) 269 8855
Professor Jim Sheehan Faculty Member, School of Psychotherapy, School of Medicine, University College Dublin. Professor of Family Therapy and Systemic Practice at the VID Specialized University, Oslo, Norway
Appendix
Legal Issues and Considerations regarding the Early Intervention Project & use of the Screening Tool This is a Pilot Project designed to measure the impact of a set of Educational and Therapeutic Interventions on the families of first-time entrants to the Dublin Family Circuit Court. Scope 1. 1 00 sets of litigant parents will voluntarily participate in a series of intervention measures offered to them and their children over a two-year period, to include Educational and Therapeutic Interventions, as well as a research project. Participants must consent to engage in this Pilot Project on a voluntary basis.
Appendix (continued)
Step 1: Entry to Project and Signing Agreement. A. T he Parties may be encouraged/referred to consider voluntary engagement with the Project by the Court Service, their Lawyers and/or the Court itself. B. The Parties will both sign a Letter of Understanding “LU” concerning the parameters of the Project, consenting to their involvement and confirming their voluntary participation. This will include the Parties, as Parents, confirming they will participate with their children in the Therapeutic, Educational and Research aspects of the project, as well as the initial Court-based Screening Interview Project. C. A t the request of the parties the Court will be asked to direct and confirm the lifting of the “InCamera” Rule such that, in the legitimate interests of both of the parties who confirm their voluntary participation in this Project, pursuant to Section 40 of the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004 (“Section 40”), the Parties can tell the Accredited Therapist Professionals involved in delivering the Project about aspects of the Court proceedings (including about what occurred at court hearing which have been held in private). The Court will also be requested, at the behest of the Participants in the Project, to direct and confirm that Researchers involved in delivering the research element of the Project can, (in accordance with Section 40) , report on the Parties Family Law proceedings, provided that, (in compliance with Section 40), those Researchers do not publish anything that would identify the parties or any child. It is envisaged that Precedent Template Orders will be prepared, for ruling by the Court on a consent basis, as an appendix to each LU. D. Information regarding the opportunity to participate in the Project can be provided by way of information leaflets/brochure issued by the Courts Service contemporaneous to the District Court Appeal date being fixed/identified (for matters on Appeal from the District Court, which will be the initial entry to the project other than Lawyer recommendation). Separately, such information leaflet/brochure can be provided by way of being handed to Clients by Lawyers (or suggested by the Judiciary) on identification of cases that may benefit from participation in the project.
E. T he Court-based Screening Interview Project can only be made available to Parents by mutual consent and at the direction of the Court. F. The Courts Service will be requested to provide a private Consultation Room for an Accredited Therapist to conduct “Screening Tool” interviews on a day the parties are due to attend Court, {or in advance thereof}; (printing/copying resources will also be required, so that Screening Tool Interview Reports prepared on the day can be delivered to the Parties, their Lawyers and the Court). G. To assist with the management of resources it is suggested that the Project initially be offered in Phoenix House, to Dublin Circuit District Court Appeals list cases listed on a Monday; other types of cases, with the consent of the parties and the Court, can be adjourned “For Mention” to suitable Monday lists, for the purposes of making the initial Orders required concerning the “In Camera” Rule and provision of the therapeutic Screening Tool that Monday, as well as further directions once the Screening Tool Interviews have been conducted. The choice of the District Court Appeals List and Lawyer referral is to achieve participation of those who are in active family law litigation and have been unable to resolve their differences/issues through Mediation (or other forms of ADR). In all cases Court Proceedings (with issues concerning Children/Family relationships) will have already issued, or be ready for issue. The maximum potential for this research project is where mediation has been declined, or failed or deemed unsuitable; but a mediated resolution of conflict will continue to be considered where and as appropriate.
Step 2:
Step 5:
Screening Tool Interview with an Accredited Therapist
Implementation of Further Actions/Recommendations
he participant parents will initially meet a trained H. T independent, neutral, Accredited Therapist. This Therapist will meet the two disputing parties to conduct an initial Screening Tool Interview with each of the parents separately, which will measure the presence or absence of a number of relational and behavioural factors in themselves or their children that are associated with prolonged post-separation conflict. This will be conducted based on a Screening Tool designed specifically for the purposes of this Project.
M. W here considered appropriate (and as may be directed by the Court) the relevant Educational and Therapeutic Professionals, as may be recommended by the Accredited Therapist will, (subject to the appropriate directions of the Court), provide further information, feedback and reportage to the Parties.
Step 3: Screening Tool Report I. The Accredited Therapist will provide a short report (in standardised form) to the parties, their lawyers and to the Court. Initial screening to produce this report will be brief, but will consider, comment and potentially offer/ suggest possibilities to explore (or rule out) regarding alternative options for conflict resolution, (including the educational, therapeutic and ADR processes already mentioned) where appropriate.
Step 4: Accredited Therapist Recommendations/Evidence J. T he Accredited Therapist will remain available on the day of the Screening Tool Interview to give evidence to the Court as may be required, either by the Court, or the Parties (or either of them). K. R eports prepared in this Project will be supplemental to, but not in place of, Reports pursuant to S47 of the Family Law Act 1995 (and/or similar legislative provisions) and other existing family law resources. The Screening Tool Report of the Accredited Therapist shall, of its nature, be informative and advisory only to the court. L. S tatutory obligations for reporting pursuant to the Children First Act 2015 as well as non-statutory obligations set out in the Children First Guidance remain in place and shall be observed by the Accredited Therapist. Any and all inquiries or investigations concerning any allegations raised by either party shall proceed to an appropriate conclusion by the relevant investigating authority.
The Educational and Therapeutic professionals shall only provide further evidence to the Court concerning or in accordance with the Psycho-Educational, Psychotherapy, Psychosocial and Parenting Coordination/Assessment elements of the project (which the parties engage with at this stage), if so directed by the Court on its own motion, (or following direction on application to it by a party to the proceedings) and as may be appropriate. It is envisaged that Precedent Template Orders will be prepared, for ruling by the Court (on a consent basis or otherwise - as part of Step 4), concerning such further information/ feedback/reportage to the Parties to be provided by the Educational and Therapeutic Professionals delivering the project, as an appendix to each Letter of Understanding. This will be done on a consent basis or otherwise - as part of this Step 5. N. A part from the Psycho-Educational Project where attendance will be obligatory for all participating parents and the Psychosocial Assessment Project where family participation will be at the direction of the Court, the remaining interventions in this Project will be offered to families by the Project Team on a selective basis and in accordance with the Family assessed need. All the interventions will be offered to families and their individual members free of charge (or subject to a merely nominal charge).
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