Extending the support and information available to parents
In 2006, David Henshaw was asked to lead a redesign of the child support system. His report formed the basis of the Child Maintenance and Other Payments Act 2008 and the Child Maintenance Act (Northern Ireland) 2008.
In his report, he made a number of significant recommendations. Firstly, he noted that:
Parents who are able to should be encouraged and supported to make their own arrangements. Such arrangements tend to result in higher satisfaction and compliance and allow individual circumstances to be reflected.
Secondly, he argued that:
The state should only get involved when parents cannot come to agreement themselves…
He also recognised that:
Increasing the choices for parents depends on clear, high-quality advice and support being made available to all.
I spent the last three weeks of October in Belfast working with the Child Maintenance Information and Support Service, part of the Department for Social Development, training staff to ensure that the high-quality advice and support that they provide is accessible, empathic and empowering.
I was hugely impressed by the skills, knowledge and commitment of the ISS team and their determination to offer parents a service that recognises the complexities of family separation. Their respectful engagement with separated mums and dads can help families to share the financial responsibilities of bringing up children without squashing them into the straight jacket roles of ‘parent with care’ and ‘non resident parent’.
And its this kind of respectful engagement that we need more of. Where separation is unavoidable, parents need more high-quality support and information to help them manage the end of their marriage or relationship. And not just around child maintenance, but around all of the other issues that are critical in ensuring that children can adapt.
As David Henshaw wrote in 2006:
There should be more accessible and joined-up advice services to help people in making these choices. These should be part of the wider range of services for separating parents.
Maybe now is the time to look at extending the support and information available to parents so that they can make the right kinds of choices for both themselves and, most importantly, their children.
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Extending the support and information available to parents
14/11/2010 Leave a Comment
In 2006, David Henshaw was asked to lead a redesign of the child support system. His report formed the basis of the Child Maintenance and Other Payments Act 2008 and the Child Maintenance Act (Northern Ireland) 2008.
In his report, he made a number of significant recommendations. Firstly, he noted that:
Secondly, he argued that:
He also recognised that:
I spent the last three weeks of October in Belfast working with the Child Maintenance Information and Support Service, part of the Department for Social Development, training staff to ensure that the high-quality advice and support that they provide is accessible, empathic and empowering.
I was hugely impressed by the skills, knowledge and commitment of the ISS team and their determination to offer parents a service that recognises the complexities of family separation. Their respectful engagement with separated mums and dads can help families to share the financial responsibilities of bringing up children without squashing them into the straight jacket roles of ‘parent with care’ and ‘non resident parent’.
And its this kind of respectful engagement that we need more of. Where separation is unavoidable, parents need more high-quality support and information to help them manage the end of their marriage or relationship. And not just around child maintenance, but around all of the other issues that are critical in ensuring that children can adapt.
As David Henshaw wrote in 2006:
Maybe now is the time to look at extending the support and information available to parents so that they can make the right kinds of choices for both themselves and, most importantly, their children.
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