Kim Holt: Contemporary Family Justice: Policy and Practice in Complex Child Protection Decisions

Excerpt

Kim Holt, the author of Contemporary Family Justice: Policy and Practice in Complex Child Protection Decisions, discusses the United Kingdom’s attempt to have a remote control approach to the family justice system. The approach is implemented through the Public Law Outline. That law aspires to enhance the United Kingdom’s family justice system, however many negative impacts occurred. Holt discusses some of the most notable negative impacts throughout her book. She also explains that the goal of the law is to expedite family justice system processes while cutting costs. That sounds like a win–win situation. Unfortunately, that is not what occurred. The United Kingdom did cut costs, but at the expense of the overall family justice system. This is a major issue when children are involved. As a result, Holt directs this book at all practitioners in family justice in the United Kingdom. As a non-United Kingdom reader of this book, it quickly becomes clear that there are many problems with the law and the remote control approach, and they are especially urgent given the vulnerability of children. Holt agrees, which is apparent as she discusses the issues with the remote control approach and the need to address pressing issues rather than focus on cutting costs. …