BUILDING BRIDGES? - EXPECTATIONS AND EXPERIENCES OF CHILD CONTACT CENTRES IN SCOTLAND
CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION
1.1 This chapter sets out the background to the study, describing the broader policy context, and discussing the role of child contact centres. It then outlines the objectives of the research. Specific methods are described in the following Chapter.
BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
1.2 The Scottish Executive commissioned research into Scottish child contact centres as part of its ongoing research programme into the Children (Scotland) Act 1995. The research was carried out in 3 stages: Phase 1 collected basic demographic information on the families using contact centres in Scotland, while Phase 2 was a survey of the contact centre workforce. Findings from these 2 phases are reported separately 1, but are referred to in this report, which focuses on the findings of Phase 3 of the research. The overall aim of Phase 3 research was to investigate users', referrer and staff expectations and experiences of contact centres, and to highlight any areas of convergence or divergence. The research for Phase 3 was conducted by a research team from the National Centre for Social Research, in collaboration with Kay Tisdall from Children in Scotland / University of Edinburgh, during 2001 and 2002.
The policy context
1.3 Child contact centres do not have a legal definition within Scottish law, and their development to date has been on an ad hoc basis. Nonetheless, despite their non statutory basis their primary function (promoting and supporting contact between children and parents or other family members) supports a key principle of Scots law.
1.4 The promotion of contact between children and their parents (subject to this being in the children's best interests) has a firm basis within Scottish law. At an international level, this principle is strongly influenced by human rights conventions - the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) - and is now specified in Scottish family law itself within the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 2 (the 1995 Act)
1.5 The Scottish Office explicitly acknowledged the incorporation of key principles of the UNCRC into the 1995 Act, including the child's welfare as the paramount consideration, and the requirement to listen to children's views.
1.6 Of particular relevance to contact centres is the key principle of continued relationships and contact with children. Article 9 of the UNCRC promotes the rights of children who are separated from parent(s) to 'maintain personal relations and direct contact with both parents on a regular basis, except if it is contrary to the child's best interests' 3. Scots law assumes that it is beneficial to a child that they maintain links with both parents. Under the 1995 Act, a parent has both the responsibility and right to maintain personal relations and direct contact with their child 4, although once again this is always subject to consideration of the child's welfare. In making a contact order, the court can regulate the arrangements for "maintaining personal relations and direct contacts between a child … and a person with whom the child is not, or will not be, living"5. Such arrangements may include a requirement that contact takes place in a contact centre.
1.7 Incorporation of the ECHR into UK law under the Human Right Act 1998 has also highlighted the importance of the recognition of the right to continued contact between children and absent parents. Article 8 of the ECHR provides for respect for a person's 'private and family life', and has been interpreted as including the right to contact with children.
1.8 The Scottish Executive more recently re-endorsed the importance of continued relationships between children and absent parents, with each parent being seen as having active responsibility to promote their child's continued relationship with the other parent in the event of separation or divorce 6. In the 2000 White Paper 'Parents and Children', the Executive outlines the policy objective of assisting organisations which 'support families affected by difficulties in parental relationships or dealing with the consequences of parental separation and divorce' - contact centres are explicitly mentioned as being able to 'provide protection for children from parental conflict resulting from separation and divorce' (para 5.2)
1.9 Contact centres also feature in discussion in the White Paper on the effect of domestic abuse on parental rights and responsibilities, and contact in particular. In an earlier consultation, responses has suggested that wider provision of contact centres would allow a parent to have contact with a child without risk of confrontation with the other parent or other members of the family, such as a new partner 7. Although ultimately the Executive decided that there was no agreement that an amendment to the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 should require courts to take domestic violence into account in all cases, the White Paper supported the work of contact centres, stating:
"We recognise the value of contact centres and support the work of the voluntary sector in making them available as widely as possible.". (para 10.21)
1.10 More generally, there are certain obligations on local authorities to consider services such as child contact centres. Local authorities must consult, prepare, publish and review children's services plans for all 'relevant' children's services (S.19 of the 1995 Act). These include services for children affected by matrimonial proceedings such as divorce. Further, under Section 20, local authorities must publish information on 'relevant' children's services in its area, both provided by itself, another local authority or when considered 'appropriate', voluntary organisations and others. How these duties are being implemented, in regards to child contact centres, has not been formally researched.
1.11 Thus, while having no formal legal status, the work of contact centres can be seen to reflect key principles of Scots law, and their role is recognised at a policy level. More detailed discussion of the role of contact centres now follows.
The role of child contact centres
1.12 Child contact centres are neutral venues that exist to promote and support contact between parents, guardians or other family members and children who do not live together. Ultimately, the goal of a contact centre is to 'protect children from parental conflict so that the time parents and children do spend together is not spoiled by display of hostile feelings between parents' 8Contact centres are used for a variety of reasons. Families frequently seek support with contact where there has been conflict in establishing a relationship between a child and both parents, or other family members, or where acrimony exists between parties. Common reasons for seeking contact centre services include domestic violence, child abuse or fear of abduction However, not all contact centre usage is founded upon acrimony between parents. For example resident parents may seek services when there has been a long absence of contact between the child and the non-resident parent. Contact centres place the well-being of the child at the core of their activities.
1.13 The centres provide supported contact where the venue itself is supervised, but where there is no supervision of the parents. Supervised contact is not provided formally by staff at the centres although provision can be arranged for the child to be accompanied during the contact by a mutually agreed third party. The third party is usually a family member or family friend but not a member of staff. In some cases staff may also provide supervised contact if the contact is defined as requiring 'high vigilance'.
1.14 The first child contact centres were opened in 1988. At the time of the research undertaken for stage 3 of the research programme, there were 28 contact centres operating in Scotland. As with most voluntary sector provision, there is a certain degree of fluidity in the provision of contact centre services in Scotland. For example, new services may be opened whilst other established centres have to close down, perhaps because of funding problems. The majority of child contact centres are run by Family Mediation and the Women's Royal Voluntary Service (WRVS). They are staffed by a combination of paid organisers and voluntary workers, who are provided with training on the impact of separation and divorce on children, the legal process, and conflict management. Child contact centres are located in local communities and are not statutory agencies.
1.15 Families are referred to centres from a variety of sources including courts, solicitors, social workers, self-referral and health workers. Phase 1 and 2 research found that three quarters of families were referred to contact centres by solicitors and / or the courts and about one half of families using contact centres had court orders in place. The research found that in the majority of cases the resident parent was the mother and the contact parent was the father.
1.16 Contact centres see themselves as a stepping stone to families organising contact arrangements independently. They do not seek to make judgements on parenting, nor do they provide any reports to any outside agencies. Contact centres are open to all, and do not carry out universal screening procedures before 'accepting' a family, although practices vary between centres.
1.17 There is no single model for a contact centre nor prescriptive directives on how they should function. All centres are affiliated to the Scottish Association of Child Contact Centres (SACCC) who have produced a set of guidelines for their operation. 9 They provide services to families at different times during the week. The dominant pattern is of contact centres opening once a week on Saturdays for family use . However, some centres offer more comprehensive opening hours throughout the week. A single contact centre might see, on average, 10-12 families on any one day although this will vary depending on location, funding and staffing.
1.18 The range of contact available in the centres comprises:
- contact solely within the centre, where the child cannot be taken away;
- contact mainly within the centre, but where the child can be taken out for short periods of time (for walks, etc);
- exchange supervision - where the child is picked up and dropped off at the centre but the contact takes place outwith the centre;
- exchange supervision - where the child is picked up at the centre but returned to the resident parent's home.
1.19 Since the SACCC is deliberately non-prescriptive in its contact centre guidelines, there are differences between centres in the way they function. The running of a centre is influenced by a number of factors, for example: the amount of funding available, the organisation running it, and the availability of paid or volunteer staff. Phase 1 and 2 contact centre research hypothesised that if there is diversity in services offered by centres, then this could lead to confusion for referrers and families and to the potential for inappropriate referral. This potential diversity across contact centres in Scotland was a key factor in the design of this phase of the research.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH
1.20 At the time of the study, there was no in depth research into contact centre provision in Scotland. Research on provision in England and Wales was underway but as yet unpublished. The overall aim of the present research was to examine users' and workers' expectations and experiences of child contact centres, and to highlight any convergence, or discrepancy, between the two. In order to obtain a comprehensive picture of expectations and experiences, it was important to involve all user groups, and other stakeholders, in the study. Therefore, the study included the views and experiences of the following groups:
- staff (both paid and voluntary) providing contact centre services
- referrers (including solicitors, social workers and Sheriffs) involved in recommending contact centres to families in transition
- families (including both resident and contact parents and their children) who were currently using, or had previously used, a contact centre
1.21 The primary research objectives were to explore, with each group:
- expectations about the nature and role of contact centre provision
- experiences and views of the referral process
- experiences of using, providing or referring to contact centres
- views about outcomes from the use of contact centres
1.22 It is important to note that the study did not set out to evaluate the quality of contact centre provision. Nevertheless, an integral part of finding out about people's experiences of centres was to ask them their views on the services available, what they found to be effective and what they thought could be improved. These findings provide useful feedback for all organisations providing contact services in Scotland (not just those directly involved in the research).