Capacity to Change: Understanding and Assessing a Parent's Capacity to Change within the Timescales of the Child

When family courts are making decisions about the best interests of children in legal proceedings there are often two conflicting questions posed in order to determine good outcomes: (i) "Is change possible in the family within the timescales for the child?"; and (ii) "Do the parents have the capacity to change?" This terminology is used as though these two concepts were clearly defined and well-evidenced. With the move away from reliance on expert evidence in the court arena there is a need to provide practitioners in the social care and legal professions with a framework for formulating how the child's best interests can be met within their timescales and whether capacity to change is likely. This title is to bring together chapters commissioned specifically for the audience in the social care, health, education and legal professions.

Part One: Chapter 1 - Capacity to change in the children's timescales Chapter 2 - Early intervention: Outcomes for babies and young children in the care system Chapter 3 - Outcomes for children with attachment disorders and understanding their long-term needs Chapter 4 - Psychological needs and outcomes for abused and neglected children Chapter 5 - Psychological needs of children with neurodevelopmental disorders Chapter 6 - Children and young people's experience: The voice of the child in their experience of timescales Chapter 7 - Learning and educational needs of children and young people Chapter 8 - Protection and working towards safety and stability for the child Chapter 9 - The needs of children caught in private law proceedings when their family disintegrates Part Two: Chapter 10 - Understanding and assessing motivation to change Chapter 11 - Capacity to change in parents with mental health issues Chapter 12 - Capacity to change in parents who are violent Chapter 13 - Capacity to change in parents who are a sexual risk Chapter 14 - Capacity to change in parents with drug and alcohol problems Chapter 15 - Capacity to change in parents with learning difficulties Chapter 16 - Understanding the legal processes and implications in the assessment of capacity to change in the child's timescales