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COURT WORK & COURT PROCESSA One Day Court work course is also available (one or two trainers) but does not teach Courtroom skills. Training Programme (2
days or available as a 3 day option) Please note: in our opinion there is no easy way a course as complex as this can be presented in 1 day. Our main Court work course is intended for qualified Children & Families workers but is suitable for any staff who attend Court in the course of their duties. Because this is a case scenario and role-play based course it is specific to the staff group and cannot be “genericised” across staff disciplines. A Mental Health version of this course on Review Tribunals and Court Work is also available. Overall Learning Themes are:
This course has been run in various locations many times with considerable success and universally excellent feedback. Except for two people (separate) occasions who simply could not “hack” the role play and left early we have never once had any kind of negative reaction. Even when given a hard time in “Court” participants invariably enjoy this course and learn from it. This training simply does not work for larger groups (we have tried more than once and it doesn’t work) and group size is set to an absolute maximum of 12 although 10 is the optimum number and should be adhered to wherever possible. Please note that this course is heavily based on role-play and ALL participants are expected to fully take part. There can be no exceptions. The facilitators are: Judith Tuck, Osiris Training & Consultancy Alan Cooper, Osiris Training & Consultancy This is a two-trainer course. We do not offer it as a single trainer option. Day
1 is spent on legal aspects of childcare and exercises relating to legal
aspects. Central to this is a substantial Osiris Training & Consultancy Ltd
handout The Osiris Guide to Children &
Families Legislation. Participants are expected to write a Chronology of the
case scenario re fundamental facts on Day 1. The
late morning of Day 1 begins a case scenario in which participants enact scenes
in role play and go on to write a statement about the case in the morning of Day
2. Other materials on the case are supplied on Day 2. The purpose of the case
scenario is to engender “ownership” of the case and enable all participants
to access the “same” material re evidencing their decisions. The
case scenario is deliberately designed for it not to be an “open and shut”
case re the Local Authority getting an ICO but there is still sufficient reason
enough for the LA to initiate Care Proceedings. Therefore, the course is also a
test of “evidencing” as well as presentation. In
this sense, we simply cannot replicate the procedure of the (from April 2008)
Public Law Outline because we have to focus on a contested ICO which is unlikely
to happen in precisely the way that we portray it (to give participants the
experience) once the new Outline becomes operational. However, we do include the
Public Law Outline within the course in terms of teaching.The purpose of this course is intended to be experiential in terms of
Court. That is its main focus. The
afternoon of Day 2 is a Court Role Play (for first ICO which is hotly contested)
with Judith Tuck acting as solicitor for the Council and Alan Cooper acting as a
hostile (and C&F knowledgeable) solicitor for the parent. See 3rd
Day option page 3. Learning Objectives of the Course. The Court Process · Beginning the Court Process: Legal Advice · EPO, ICO, Directions Hearings and Final Hearing · Parties to the Hearing: the SSD, the child, parents, significant others, the GALRO, the child’s solicitor, SSD solicitor, other solicitors, Barristers, Expert Witnesses · The Courts and Judges / Magistrates · Findings of Fact and Legal Interpretation · Reporting to Court · The Plan for the Child · Being a Witness · Disposal – Care Orders / other · Parental responsibility · Contact · S48 Warrant to Enter + S17 of PACE · Recovery Order · Rehabilitation, Long-term fostering / care, Adoption Panel and Form E’s, and the issue of permanency planning. Process
Knowledge: Ø How do I get an EPO, Assessment Order or Warrant? Ø Ascertaining Wishes and Feelings of children and of parents Ø What is involved in ensuring equal opportunities when using the welfare Checklist – how do I address issues of race, disability, religion, language and culture? Ø What is involved in terms of working with other agencies like Police, Health and Education? Ø When and how do legal get involved? Ø How do I work with parents in terms of participation on the one hand and adversity on the other? Ø How do I cope and deal with hostility? Ø Who should I keep informed, when and with what sort of information? Ø Who will support me and how? Ø What should I say when parties’ solicitors telephone me? Ø What information can I give to other parties like the Police, or solicitors? Ø What if people try to pressure me to agree with them? Ø What can be evidence in Court? Ø Should I bring the file to Court? Ø Can I talk to people (e.g. parents) in Court while we are waiting? Ø How do I best prepare for Court? Ø What should I do to cope in the Court Setting? Ø Do I need to know the roles of Courtroom personnel (including Usher)? Ø What do I do if I panic? Relaxation techniques Ø How best can I plan evidence? Ø How do I phrase evidence? Ø Who has access to files inside / outside of Court? Ø How do different sorts of Court differ? PLUS: · Mental Health Act Code of Practice · “Gillick Competence” as formulated by Lord Scarman and revised by Lord Donaldson. · Important aspects of MH Act · Human Rights Act and Data Protection Act · Adoption and Children Act 2002 · Children Act 2004 & Children Act 2008 · Care Standards and NSF. · Public Law Outline We cannot guarantee to cover everything listed within two days although we will certainly cover the main themes and the Court Process Knowledge and much Process knowledge will also be covered. ·
The Osiris Guide to the Language of Evidence (a
special version is also used on our Analysis & Assessment These two documents are major supplements to the course and should be thoroughly read and re-read by participants. The Osiris handouts act as extensive reference documents which should aid general casework as well as Court work. This course can be run as a three day course (2+1 or 3 straight days) which allows it far more flexibility to build in extra elements such as analysis, statement reliability testing, construction of statements, review of cross examination “lawyer’s tricks”, elements of evidencing and giving evidence. We have to leave some of this out in the 2 day course.
We have run this course before as a 3 day and our experience was that it is a much better format for a very complex subject. Although we cover all the above in the two day version, the extra time of a third day allows for deeper and extended levels of training. We believe that the course is better presented as a whole rather than two separate courses as social workers attending Court are in the same position whether they have two weeks experience or 20 years – the Court and its members will expect them to perform at a highly professional level. No excuses or exceptions are accepted or made but within this protected environment mistakes are useful and can be easily learnt from. Equipment
and Venue Requirements Flipchart
and Pad Close
by car parking – we bring lots of materials and books. Maximum
number of participants is 14 – we will not accept over this figure. Minimum
number is 6. We
will need at least three tables for our Magistrates Court mock up. Also tables at side of room for books Day 1 and Day 2. The room needs to
be big enough to comfortably accommodate participants and be able to serve as a
Courtroom. A breakaway room (or some sort of foyer) where people can sit is needed especially for Day 2 as participants not needed for Court are excluded from the main room but still have exercise work to do.
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OSIRIS: Lighting the Way Forward
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