Capacity to Change:: Understanding and Assessing a Parent’s Capacity to Change within the Timescales of the Child

When family courts are making decisions about the best interests of children in legal proceedings there are often two conflicting questions posed in order to determine good outcomes: (i) “Is change possible in the family within the timescales for the child?”; and (ii) “Do the parents have the capacity to change?” This terminology is used as though these two concepts were clearly defined and well-evidenced. With the move away from reliance on expert evidence in the court arena there is a need to provide practitioners in the social care and legal professions with a framework for formulating how the child’s best interests can be met within their timescales and whether capacity to change is likely. This title is to bring together chapters commissioned specifically for the audience in the social care, health, education and legal professions.