Family Law

The Minister for Sport and Civil Society, Tracey Crouch, has announced that the Family Drug and Alcohol Courts (FDAC) National Unit and partner local authorities have been awarded a £6m grant from the Government’s Life Chances Fund.

The service, delivered by the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, will be able to be rolled out to many more areas, giving more families access to FDAC’s unique approach to improve the lives of children who face removal from their families because of the risk posed by a parent’s substance misuse and other complex needs.

The new government grant will enable the FDAC National Unit to work with eleven local authorities that hope to sustain or to start their own FDAC services. The money will be used to develop a seven-year FDAC outcomes contract in each of these places, funded by Social Impact Bonds.

Tracey Crouch said:

‘This funding will benefit some of the most vulnerable people in society and provide vital support to help them transform their lives. The UK is a world leader in using social impact bonds to make a positive impact in society and these projects will achieve real results in communities across the country.’

Paul Jenkins, Chief Executive of the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, said:

‘Our problem-solving Family Drug and Alcohol Court (FDAC) model is tried and tested. We know it works better than standard family proceedings in addressing the complex problems of trauma, substance misuse, mental ill health and domestic violence that families involved in care proceedings often face.’

Mike Shaw, director of the FDAC National Unit, said:

‘FDAC achieves better outcomes for parents, better outcomes for children, and better value for money. But funding is a constant battle.

With the support of the Life Chances Fund, and a focus on rewarding the positive outcomes delivered by the service, we finally have an innovative funding model to match our innovative court model. We can now concentrate on bringing FDAC to more families in more local authorities.’