Changes introduced at the start of October mean Legal Aid can no longer be used to help pay for residential family assessments, which can help troubled families to stay together.
But the changes have prompted a reduction in the use of residential assessments as councils struggle to meet the full cost of the service. Sue Pettigrew, director of London welfare charity St Michael's Fellowship, and chair of the Consortium of Residential Family Assessment Centres, said: "We have been hit heavily in the past month or so, with a huge reduction in referrals and for the first time we have two out of four houses empty.
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