account arrow-down-linearrow-down-small arrow-downarrow-download arrow-left-small arrow-leftarrow-link arrow-rightarrow-upawarded books calendar close-modal closedate delete document education emailevent facebookhamburger impact instagramjustice linkedin location-outline location opinion page phonepinterestplay plusplyr-pause plyr-play post preview projectpublication reports resourcesearch-bigsearch series share star-full star-open startime twitterwelfare youtube zoom-in zoom-out

Our work

Our research identifies and fills gaps in our understanding of the family justice system, to support better outcomes for children and families.

Explore our current focus areas

Inequalities

Contact

COVID-19

Private law

Newborn babies

Special guardianship and kinship care

Young people

Useful resources

Explore our research

Type

Resource

Young people | 2023

Children subject to deprivation of liberty orders

Children subject to deprivation of liberty (DoL) orders are among the most vulnerable children in England and Wales and living with severe restrictions on their day-to-day freedoms. Over the last 12 months we have been working with the national DoL court during its 12-month pilot phase (July 2022 to June 2023) to understand the number of children and their circumstances. This briefing paper summarises our key findings to date and outlines five principles of care.
View resource
View resource
Resource

Young people | 2023

Principles of Care for Children with Complex Needs

Changes to ways of working, and to the type and availability of services and provision, is necessary to better meet the needs of children with complex needs and circumstances, including those subject to deprivation of liberty orders.
View resource
View resource
Resource

Private law | 2023

What do we know about adults in private law proceedings? Spotlight series

This Spotlight Series paper highlights what we know about adults in private law proceedings, focusing on the evidence about different vulnerabilities…

Resource type

Spotlight
View resource
View resource
Resource

Young people | 2023

National deprivation of liberty court: Latest data trends – June 2023

In July 2022 the President of the Family Division launched the national deprivation of liberty court. Based at the Royal Courts of Justice, it deals with all new applications seeking authorisation to deprive children of their liberty under the inherent jurisdiction and will run for a 12-month pilot phase…

View resource
View resource
Resource

Inequalities | 2023

How might our ethnicity affect our experience of the family justice system?

This paper presents some important findings relating to ethnicity and the family justice system in relation to both public and private family law. By following a child’s journey through the family justice system – before court, through court proceedings, and after court – we show that ethnic disparities exist across the spectrum.

Resource type

Spotlight
View resource
View resource
Resource

Young people | 2023

National deprivation of liberty court: Latest data trends – May 2023

In July 2022 the President of the Family Division launched the national deprivation of liberty court. Based at the Royal Courts of Justice, it deals with all new applications seeking authorisation to deprive children of their liberty under the inherent jurisdiction and will run for a 12-month pilot phase…

View resource
View resource
Resource

Young people | 2023

Legal outcomes of cases at the national deprivation of liberty court

This summary highlights the main findings from an analysis of the first two months of applications to the national deprivation of liberty (DoL) court (July and August 2022), focusing on the orders made in these cases. The analysis aimed to answer the following research questions: What is the legal outcome of applications? …

View resource
View resource
Resource

Inequalities | 2023

Ethnicity of children in care and supervision proceedings in England

The aim of this briefing paper is to increase awareness of inequalities that exist across ethnic groups in the family justice system and how we can monitor and measure this using data.

View resource
View resource
Search research

Nuffield FJO in development

As part of our development we examined the research needs of the family justice system.

Our research methods

An overview of the different methods we use in our research.

Infographic Resource

What do we know about children in the family justice system?

Our infographic pulls together what we know, and what we don’t know, about children’s journeys through the family justice system from national data.

Discover the infographic
Child plays football barefoot

About the Observatory

We are an independent body, funded by the Nuffield Foundation.

The Nuffield Family Justice Observatory exists to find and fill the gaps in our understanding of the family justice system, highlight the areas where change will have the biggest impact, and foster collaboration to make that change happen.

Profile

Latest