Resources and training

On the 28^th of April, we held our annual conference: ‘Breaking Down Barriers’. This year, we looked back on the exciting progress made in facilitating better access to justice for neurodivergent children, adults and families, and set out FLANC’s vision for the future.

Over the last two years, we have been working hard to raise awareness of these issues through extensive training and education. We have run more than 45 lectures, seminars and workshops across the country, presenting to several thousand family justice professionals including: lawyers, judges, social workers, mediators and other NCDR practitioners. Educating the sector is essential to ensure the neurodiverse community receive the support they need. To this end, we worked closely with the Family Justice Council to help develop guidance for legal practitioners working with neurodivergent users of the Family Justice System.

This project was the cumulative effort by a multidisciplinary working group over two years and is used across the country to identify and mitigate barriers to justice. We are currently supporting the development of an equivalent toolkit for the judiciary, which is expected later this year. Once published, all family justice practitioners will have access to best practice guidance for supporting neurodiverse clients – an important step toward an inclusive family justice system and expanding access to justice for those that need it most.

To support this work, we have created a series of cutting-edge tools for clients and practitioners put this best practice into effect. Examples include the All About Me Document, the Professionals Meeting Toolkit, and the toolkits we have developed in collaboration with Family Law in Partnership (FLiP), and Our Family Wizard. These tools have been created to enable families and practitioners to communicate effectively across family justice settings.

And finally, as we look toward the future, we have been campaigning for mandatory training, which we are developing with the Anna Freud Centre, to ensure the entire sector is equipped with the necessary skills. This is a huge piece of work – one that we feel will make a huge and immediate impact in supporting neurodivergent children, adults and families in navigating our family justice system. To support this work, we would greatly appreciate any donations. To help out, click here:

It was a fantastic evening, with over 200 there in support. We are grateful to Sir Andrew MacFarlane, former President of the Family Division and great supporter of FLANC, for delivering the evening’s keynote. Our thanks go out to those joined us in presenting and organising the day: Jasmine Hollis, Diana Pierags, Caroline Croft, Katie Deans, Elizabeth Fletcher, Alia Lewis, Dr Tom Grange, Claire Evans and HHJ Maclachlan.

To view the slide deck from the evening, click here.