Pause makes a difference

The below article appears in the July issue of Family Law at [2016] Fam Law 791 and has been made available free of charge as a service to our readers.

When I think back on my experience as a frontline practitioner – running the child protection service at the Homerton Hospital and in strategic and advisory roles in Hackney – I can remember the cases that made my co-founder and I determined to develop an intervention for women who experienced repeat removals of children into care. Without anything changing these destructive cycles would repeat year after year – and for the same women. When it came to developing the Pause model one woman in particular has always stayed at the forefront of my mind.

Her name is Clara. When I first met her Clara was 28 years old and had already had two children removed. She was pregnant again and initial proceedings were already underway for her third child. Clara had grown up in and out of foster care. Her father was physically abusive towards her and her mother was...

Read the full article here.