The child welfare items we’ve found today that we think offer something interesting.

Media Not Being Notified About Family Hearings

The case involving Haringey Council and PA Media Group made waves for the council’s shocking child protection failings, but what has since stemmed from the case is that the media are not being notified of hearings being held remotely.

This is certainly an area that the President of the Family Division should be looking into – technology makes us more efficient in a purely administrative context, not less so, and should also be of interest to journalists and court reporters.

There’s no reason why journalists can’t hop on to a remote hearing if permission to open up a case has been granted.

You can access the most recent judgment for this case, and the confirmation that the media are not being notified about remote hearings before they take place, here. 

Gillick competency and Fraser guidelines

The NSPCC has produced fact sheets on Gillick competency and Fraser guidelines, the tests used to determine whether a child is mature enough to make decisions about significant things that affect them.

The fact sheets explain the tests and offer information on how they’re applied and in what contexts they are used. These tests are often used in child proceedings in the family courts.

You can access the Home Page for these sheets here.

And Myka Stauffer loses major sponsorship deal after returning her adopted son.

The YouTube influencer who gave back her adopted son and caused an outrage on social media for doing so, has been dumped by Hollywood actress Kate Hudson, who had initially signed a sponsorship deal with Ms Stauffer.

You can read the full story here.