New Government proposals will mean that children involved in any type of family case - whether to remove them into care or disputes about child arrangements following divorce or separation - will be able to have their views heard when decisions are made that will affect them.
The Government has recently announced that from September all family court judges in England will be able to order DNA tests to determine a child’s parentage.
Researchers at Northumbria University have recently studied the impact of Family Court Advisers on the duration of court cases involving adoption or care proceedings.
The number of non-resident parents who pay towards the cost of their children through the Child Support Agency (CSA) has hit an all-time high, according to the Government.
The latest figures from the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) show that in December 2014, it received a total of 918 care applications. This figure represents a 13% increase compared to the number received in December 2013.
The Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) has recently come together with charity Reunite to help raise awareness of the issue of international parental child abduction.
A new survey by charity Grandparents Plus has found that many kinship carers and the children they look after are discriminated against by public officials and other parents.
UK charity reunite International Child Abduction Centre has welcomed a recommendation by the Law Commission that parental child abduction by retention should be criminalised.
Over the past few years there has a rise in adoption to record levels, with an increase of 63% in just three years, charity Adoption UK has said. This means thousands more children have found permanent and loving homes through a faster adoption system.
A new law came into force on 22nd October that reinforces the importance of children having relationships with each parent following family breakdown.
Fostering and adoption charity TACT has expressed concern over a sharp rise in the use of Special Guardianship Orders (SGOs) in England.
The Government is spending £300 million a year as a result of the breakdown of children's return home from care, according to new research commissioned by the NSPCC.
New enforcement fees for people using the Child Maintenance Service Collect and Pay system came into effect on 11th August this year.
The Government has committed to giving children a greater voice in the family justice system.
A new Child Maintenance Service was launched this week (30 June 2014). The new system is design to provide greater support and encouragement for separated families to reach an agreement on child maintenance payments in order to allow more time and resources to be dedicated to the most extreme cases.
Thousands of mothers have had successive children removed by family courts in England over the past seven years, according to research led by experts at the University of Manchester.
A recent report by the National Audit Office has found that the Department for Work and Pensions has successfully introduced the first phase of the Child Maintenance 2012 scheme.
New rules to speed up the adoption system are due to come into force in July, the Government has announced.
Recently released statistics have given an insight into the number of care applications received per 10,000 child population – the rate of care applications - by each local authority (LA) in England with children’s services responsibilities.
A new approach to care proceedings that tackles the substance misuse of parents has been successful in reducing the number of children taken into care and enabling more families to remain together safely, reports the Nuffield Foundation.