The Pathfinder report – improving private law children proceedings

The purpose of Pathfinder is to improve the experiences of children and families involved in private children proceedings. These cases involve parents or other family members applying for orders defining arrangements for children to live or spend time with the other parent, or concerning issues like schooling or medical treatment. 

Pathfinder’s stated aims include delivering a more efficient court process to address delays, making more sustainable orders to avoid as many cases returning to court, and reducing the re-traumatisation that domestic abuse survivors may experience during court proceedings. 

The Pathfinder model focuses on gathering more information at the start of proceedings, enhancing the voice of the child and providing funding for domestic abuse services. 

Some of the key findings of the pilot so far are: 

• parents felt that the Child Impact Report helped children express their wishes in relation to contact arrangements
• there were mixed experiences about whether children’s wishes were considered in the final outcome of proceedings
• mothers in particular shared positive feedback about the involvement of domestic abuse services; however, many felt that there were further opportunities to reduce re-traumatisation, particularly in relation to attending court
• parents found the court process to be more efficient under Pathfinder though some domestic abuse survivors found the process moved too quickly which preventing them from fully sharing their experiences; and 
• participants who had solicitors during the process were mostly positive about the court process; however, unrepresented participants shared mostly negative experiences

These findings are going to be used to guide the implementation of Pathfinder in other areas and for improvement in existing pilot sites. 

In the Russell-Cooke children law team we know from experience representing parents and children that the court process is far from perfect. We hope that the findings in this report and Pathfinder in general will help improve the process for families.  

Sarah Richardson is a partner in the children law team. Sarah specialises in complex cases involving vulnerable adults and children during care proceedings and family disputes such as children spending time with and/or living with one family member.

Rebecca Mackett is an associate also in the children law team.