Still working on different planets? Multi-agency working in child contact proceedings in private family law

In 2020, the UK Government published the Harm Panel Report which highlighted how family courts and child arrangement proceedings often further traumatises adult and child victim-survivors of domestic abuse and fails to appropriately safeguard and protect children, with inefficient and inconsistent coordination across services being a significant contributor to these issues. Subsequently, two pilot Pathfinder Integrated Domestic Abuse Courts were established to improve the experiences for families in child arrangement disputes in private family law. A key aim of these courts was to improve coordination, partnership working and information sharing between agencies. This article draws on data from an evaluation of these courts, incorporating the perspectives of professionals working across the Pathfinder sites and two comparator courts. It discusses the problems and possibilities of improving multi-agency working within the Pathfinder approach by applying the concept of the ‘three planet model’ to private family law. The article also draws on complexity theory to illustrate the challenges and possibilities for genuine multi-agency working in this context, and considers the implications of this for international jurisdictions.