Welsh Government urged to adopt successful family court model

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Substance use among parents dropped by over a quarter
The Welsh Government have been urged to adopt a successful family court model to help cut down on the number of children taken into care.
Speaking to the Siambr on Tuesday, Mid and West Wales MS Jane Dodds called for the adoption of the Family Drug and Alcohol Court model, which is a therapeutic problem-solving court model that focuses on allowing children to remain with their families where possible while also stopping parental drug misuse.
The Welsh Government had previously run a pilot version of the court model last year in Cardiff, which saw a remarkable decline in substance misuse and a rise in the number of children staying in parental care.
Drug misuse amongst parents declined from 83% to 54%, with 29% of parents achieving sobriety.
Meanwhile, the number of children in parental care more than doubled from 14% to 32%, resulting in more families staying together.
Despite successful results, the scheme was ended last year due to budgeting constraints.
Jane Dodds MS has criticised the Welsh Government for scrapping the scheme, and has asked them to reverse their decision and provide future long-term funding for the scheme, stating that “this court model could prove to be transformative to family justice here in Wales”
I was disappointed to see that, despite successful results from the pilot model in Cardiff, this potentially life-changing model was scrapped due to a withdrawal of funding by the Welsh Labour Government.
We have a golden opportunity here to change our system for the better, ensuring that children are able to stay together with their families, giving them a brighter future in the long-term.”

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