The Consortium offers a variety of assessments to assist in planning and decision-making for children and families. Assessment reports are usually commissioned by Social Service Departments or by legal representatives in family court proceedings or compensation claims. We aim to provide timely and informative expert witness assessments to assist in making decisions for children, including:
- Parenting assessments – the primary purpose is to form an opinion concerning whether a particular parent or couple can function adequately as primary carer/s to their children, and if so, to consider what support is needed to promote the children’s welfare in the family.
- Assessment of the emotional needs of the child/ren to evaluate the external harm that the child has suffered, their developmental status and needs for the future – including placement, contact, therapy and education and to assess the capacity of their parents to understand and meet those needs.
- Parent and Infant assessment – members of our professional group have the training, experience and expertise to observe and assess the attachment and interaction between parents and infants and to understand the responses of children who are too young to express themselves through language and play.
- Neuro- developmental assessments.
- Assessment of attachment styles of parents and children.
Our key aims are:-
- To understand the child’s internal world and development (emotionally, socially, psychologically), their attachment relationships and to communicate this effectively.
- To find a way to represent the child’s voice in a helpful way for them, their family and the court.
- To understand, through their play and language, the responses of children who are too young to express themselves verbally.
Our members have a high level of expertise and training in child development and attachment theory.
The majority of us have training in acting as an expert witness in legal proceedings and are experienced in this role. |
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