Rehabilitation services

Tender description

Walsall Council, Sandwell Council and Dudley Council are working collaboratively to deliver a Black Country FDAC Partnership. FDAC is rooted in the idea of problem-solving justice, where courts use their authority to address the complex social issues that bring people before them. FDAC was set up to address the issue of parents, particularly mothers, having children removed through care proceedings on a recurrent basis, without attention being paid to the parental problems underlying the need for removal. FDAC is rooted in the idea of problem-solving justice, where courts use their authority to address the complex social issues that bring people before them. FDAC was set up to address the issue of parents, particularly mothers, having children removed through care proceedings on a recurrent basis, without attention being paid to the parental problems underlying the need for removal. The FDAC model is an adaptation of a model developed in the United States. Cases which come into FDAC are commonly those where parental substance misuse is impacting on parental capacity, but in the majority of cases there are also concerns about domestic abuse and parental mental health problems. The FDAC process takes place within care proceedings and involves a multi-disciplinary specialist team working closely with the court, specially trained judges who deal with the case throughout, and regular judge-led reviews of the parents’ progress, which are attended by parents, the specialist team, the social worker and the child’s guardian. Parents have a key worker in the specialist team who does direct work with the parent and co-ordinates the other services involved with the child and family. The local authority holds responsibility for the child. FDAC processes have been adapted to take account of the 26-week timescale in care proceedings and its multi-disciplinary teams are co-located and dedicated to FDAC work. This process is asking for information which is needed by the Council in order to develop the final scope and specification for the service.