Reporting to court under the Children Act: a handbook for social services

The Children Act 1989 introduced a new approach to presenting and communicating information in court proceedings. Giving evidence or writing a report for court is a specialist skill that cannot be acquired through general social work experience. Reporting to Court Under the Children Act: A Handbook for Practitioners contains step-by-step advice, examples and checklists designed to help those preparing local authority statements and reports under the Act. Covered in detail are: preparation, time-tabling and liaison with others in the court process; the requirements of specific public and private law applications; the content of local authority statements and reports; contact and care plans; and giving evidence at court.