Nagalro, an organisation which trains children’s guardians, family court advisers and independent social workers, has published a tool to encourage the use of friends and family to support child contact.

The tool, which is a 12 page document featuring guidance and a checklist, offers child welfare staff a way of assessing wider family and friends to support contact.

It is not a bad tool. We would query some of the assumptions made in the guide, such as the view in Part 1 that individuals are “unlikely to be suitable” if there is a need to make detailed notes about the contact. This, surely, should be assessed on a case by case basis, without unhelpful and potentially stigmatising bias being introduced into the guidance.

You can access the tool here.