How the pilot works
How does the pilot work?
FAInS is currently supplied by specialist family solicitors who have completed a programme of professional development for the pilot. FAInS solicitors are able to spend time exploring, with the client, the issues to be addressed. As well as providing appropriate legal advice and representation, they are also encouraged to help the client to identify other services that may assist the client in resolving his or her dispute. Practical issues such as debt advice, help with benefits, opportunities to use mediation as a means of resolving disputes, emotional support - such as counselling and assistance with dealing with the needs of the children or young adults of the family - will be addressed. The solicitor acts as ‘case manager’ as the client addresses all the issues pertinent to his or her situation.
Family solicitors are the starting point for FAInS - research shows that 81% of people experiencing family or relationship difficulties choose to visit a family solicitor (Paths to Justice. What People Do and Think About Going to Law, Professor Hazel Genn with Sarah Beinart [et al], (Nuffield) Oxford Hart 1999). However, participation in the pilot is not limited to family solicitors. The pilot is looking at alternative models and access points in consultation with lead bodies.
Developing networks
Local partnerships between the legal and advice sectors are key to the effectiveness of FAInS. FAInS participants need to have an good understanding and knowledge of the advice services available in their area so that they can signpost and refer clients appropriately.
The need to establish inter-disciplinary networks to support the project extends beyond family and relationship support services - debt counselling and financial advice, welfare benefits advice, support for children and young people, and specialist support and advice for parents are all services that may assist families. One of the main purposes of the FAInS is to identify the type of agencies that need to be in the network, how they can best be funded and the role that central government plays in this.
Developing FAInS
FAInS is both experimental and developmental. FAInS takes into account the views of clients and family solicitors taking part in the research as well as those of the agencies in FAInS networks. The project must be a partnership between participants and the Legal Services Commission if it is to discover how best to build the 'seamless' services families require. FAInS is an ambitious and complex project, requiring the commitment of many if it is to succeed.
Consultation Groups
The project team is working closely with consultation groups established to support the pilot. These groups are made up of representatives from the legal, family mediation and voluntary sectors. They meet regularly to ensure that external views are heard and discussed, helping to define the overall project.
Legal Sector Consultation Group
The legal sector group looks at ways of building a career path for young family solicitors and giving recognition to the work being done in publicly-funded family law. It includes representatives from The Law Society, Solicitors Family Law Association (SFLA), Legal Aid Practitioners Group (LAPG) and The Institute of Legal Executives (ILEX).
Advice Sector Consultation Group
The advice sector group's particular focus is on alternative methods of delivering FAInS through advice agencies. It includes representatives from Advice Services Alliance, Citizens Advice and Law Centres Federation.
Research
A significant research programme supports FAInS. It's key aim is to identify the difference made by the introduction of the FAInS. During the pre-pilot phase, the Research Team carried out a ‘pre-FAInS’ study, of approximately six months, to understand how family legal practice operates so that comparisons might be made with FAInS and its affect on client outcomes.
The research is based on an action research model, which provides practical information through regular feedback that informs and influences the future direction of FAInS.
The research is being carried out by a consortium, coordinated by Professor Janet Walker, Director of the Newcastle Centre for Family Studies and is due to conclude in Spring 2006. For further information about the research programme, please contact the research team:
Newcastle Centre for Family Studies
18 Windsor Terrace
University of Newcastle Upon Tyne
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE1 7RU
Tel: 0191 222 7642
Fax: 0191 222 7871
Email: ncfs@ncl.ac.uk
Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/ncfs
Last updated: 02 August 2005