Family court improvement forum

Underpinning the Children Act 1989 is the principle of working in partnership with children, families, communities and services. The development and work of Quality Circle, an innovative forum hosted by the Sussex Family Justice Board, is an example of how that principle can be mobilised.

Quality Circle is an initiative by social workers and lawyers in Sussex who have created a self-regulating group of practitioners with the aim of identifying the most effective or promising practice and bringing about beneficial change in every aspect of the family justice system in Sussex. The focus is on legal proceedings concerning children and is multi-disciplinary i.e. it is open to social workers, solicitors, barristers, judges, legal executives, academics, council lawyers, psychologists, psychiatrists, Cafcass (Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service), independent social workers and the police. The work of the forum is complementary to that of organisations like the Association of Lawyers for Children, Resolution and the Family Law Bar Association. An advisory group of young people and families, with experience of care proceedings, inform the work of the forum and contribute to discussions.