THE FAMILY COURT POLITICS NOBODY TALKS ABOUT

And special thanks to the Guardian…”

In my career I’ve heard this sentence more times than I can count, and the sinking feeling in my gut is always the same.

I would be sitting in the courtroom as the Local Authority Social Worker, having written numerous updating court statements and care plans under strict deadlines. I’d listen to the praise given to the children’s guardian for being in attendance for one court hearing, when I had travelled miles to attend every single hearing, no matter how short.

I would feel incompetent when the views and opinions of the guardian, detailed in a position statement, would be held in higher regard than my own. All this despite the guardian having met a child or family once. It speaks volumes that despite holding numerous care proceedings over the years, and offering the same standard of practice in each case, I can count on one hand the amount of times I’ve heard from a judge: “...and special thanks to the Social Worker.”

IT’S IMPORTANT FOR ME TO BE CLEAR; I MASSIVELY RESPECT THE ROLE OF THE CHILDREN’S GUARDIAN IN CARE PROCEEDINGS.

I fully appreciate that our roles are hugely different. This isn’t about social worker vs guardian. It’s the very opposite. Which is why I’m calling it out. Because when a judge praises a guardian, above a social worker, it becomes social worker vs guardian.

It feeds into an unspoken status quo giving the impression to everyone in the room that guardians should be held in higher esteem. It widens the gap between professionals, and creates a disharmony that isn’t helpful for prioritising children’s needs.

JUDGES HOLD GREAT POWER TO MODEL EQUALITY IN THE COURTROOM. IT’S OKAY TO ACKNOWLEDGE HIGH QUALITY PRACTICE, BUT IF PRIORITY IS ALWAYS PLACED ON GUARDIANS, IT DOES NOTHING TO HELP A POSSIBLY ALREADY-STRAINED RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PARENTS AND SOCIAL WORKERS.

I think the best outcomes for children occur when the social worker and guardian balance each other out. I know I need the input of the children’s guardian when I might be so close to a case I can’t fully consider all of the options or gaps in evidence.

And many guardians I’ve worked with have revealed judges treated them differently when they worked for local authorities. I have experienced the critique that continuously hits local authorities in the courtroom. Is it sometimes valid? Of course. But it’s always an individual social worker who bears the brunt of it.

Couple this with a social worker’s contribution to care proceedings being actively ignored, where a guardian’s involvement is actively praised, and it’s a recipe for burnout. This isn’t a simple topic.

There are so many complexities in different courtroom relationships, but we need to talk about it. I know I’m not the only social worker to experience this. I don’t know any judges personally. I don’t know if there is a forum to talk about this. I don’t know if this would be well-received or whether it simply sounds like the rants of an annoyed social worker.

But I do know this might help another social worker, fresh out of the courtroom, and feeling like they have given their all, while hoping for just a tiny bit of recognition. So this is for the deflated social worker. And for the overworked guardian.

But mainly for the judge who might not realise the impact of their ‘special thanks’ on the people in the room. Let’s keep the conversation going.