Nadine Tilbury talks through the key issues in relation to supporting parents with learning disabilities and learning difficulties.
What are the key issues in family court proceedings?
In this film, Nadine Tilbury highlights that fair processes must start at day one of the state’s involvement and talks about the child’s welfare and protecting families’ legal rights being paramount.
The issues of relevance in cases involving parents with learning difficulties include:
- Timeliness, advocacy support, assessments, tailored training / support versus child’s timetable, courts timetable, parents’ timescales
- Advocacy support –duties beyond the Mental Health Act 1983, Mental Capacity Act (2005), and Care Act 2014. E.g. through the statutes of the Equality and Human Rights Acts
- Care Act 2014 – appearance of need
- Long-term mindset – disabled child / person / parent
- Joint working between adult’s and children’s services - duty to co-operate
- Assessments – Care Act (2014), Speech and Language Therapy (communication), cognitive, parenting capacity – how the framework has been designed to be used and is used in individual cases.
- Assumptions and discrimination – low expectations, skipping steps, parents’ views and options not respected or taken seriously, higher standards applied, differentiation between physical and learning disability, long-term need for support considered too much - ‘substituted parenting’.
Key messages:
- Despite IQ level being fluid and fluctuating, IQ level readings are often a gateway to services and support.
- IQ level readings are not predictors of parenting ability, nor assessments or evidence of parenting ability. IQ level readings are an indicator of learning and retention and the application of knowledge and skills. E.g. how a person is likely to learn and remember things so they can use their skills and knowledge.
- Where a parent appears to be struggling with literacy, numeracy, abstract concepts, time, organisation and/or planning and there are concerns about parenting, it is likely to suggest there is an appearance of need as defined under the Care Act 2014.
- The Care and Support (Eligibility Criteria) Regulations 2014 include being unable to achieve two, or more, of the ‘non-exhaustive’ list of ten outcomes. One outcome is ‘carrying out any caring responsibilities the adult has for a child’.
- In the case of a parent who struggles with literacy, numeracy, abstract concepts, time, organisation, planning etc, where there are concerns involving children’s services, it is highly likely the parent will be eligible under additional eligibility outcomes.
- Social workers need skills, knowledge, support, training and information and access to specialist colleagues when working with parents with learning difficulties. The Good Practice Guidance can support professionals in their work.
How and when is a learning disability or difficulty in relation to parenting ability assessed?
Nadine Tilbury sets out the conditions needed to effectively support parents with a learning difficulty and how to use and scrutinise parenting assessments.
Parenting assessments are the keystone upon which decisions are made. It is essential to be able to probe and examine parenting assessments and understand how the framework was intended to be used and how it has been used in a specific case. Anyone making decisions based on parenting assessment reports must be sure they are confident in the data. If an assessment has been adjusted, this should raise concerns about the data and caution should be applied. Decision makers should ask questions about how the conclusions have been reached:
- What tools were used?
- What questions were asked?
- What evidence was used?
- Was the parenting assessment framework or methodology adapted in any way?
- What behaviours were observed?
- How have the observations been carried out – how often, for how long and by whom?
Key messages:
- Effective two-way communication with parents must be a high priority.
- Speech and language therapy assessments, occupational therapy assessments, Care Act 2014 assessments and cognitive assessments should all be conducted before any specialist parenting assessments take place.
- The timeline should allow parents sufficient time to receive appropriate support, process new information, acquire and practice applying new skills and knowledge – i.e. before any pre-proceedings stage is reached.
- All assessments must be carried out by suitably qualified and experienced assessors
- Care Act 2014 assessors must have the skills knowledge and confidence to carry out the assessment in question and be appropriately trained
What is ‘substituted parenting’?
Nadine Tilbury explores the origin of the term ‘substituted parenting’ in the family courts and outlines the difference in outcome for children and their parents in cases where the term ‘substituted parenting’ arises and in cases where the term ‘supported parenting’ is used.
Cases where the term substituted parenting arose involved:
- An underlying theme that the proposed support would be too long / expensive / involve too many professionals.
- Packages of support were theoretical not actual.
- A lack of cost benefit analysis and a lack of cost breakdown.
- Statements were generic, not the voices of the actual children or families.
- An assumption that the level of support would lead to an ‘artificial environment’ or undermine a ‘normal childhood’.
- A lack of analysis of perceived risk or options to address this risk.
- A lack of long-term mindset.