This summary relates to the consultation held at St George's House, in Windsor, England, on February 2018. The attendees came from across Europe and from the United States, and they discussed a range of initiatives designed to address the challenges in modern family justice and the changes in the social, political, and economic environments that are impacting family life across the globe. Although the challenges are very similar, the approach to resolving them varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. The attendees concluded that there is much we can learn from each other, and that greater cooperation between family justice professionals across geographic boundaries would be highly beneficial.

The huge diversity in family life and living arrangements across the globe has far‐reaching implications for the ways in which families are supported and family justice is administered. Given the serious concerns about the number of relationships that break down and the potentially detrimental impacts on children and their parents, it is essential to understand the triggers threatening the stability of couple relationships, including the financial stresses caused by the recent global recession and accompanying fiscal austerity. Since family relationships are central to the psychological, emotional, social, and economic well‐being of adults and children everywhere, policy makers and practitioners should collaborate across international boundaries to develop interventions that promote family well‐being, secure the best interests of children, and ensure the conditions and systems in which families can thrive.

Following the result of the EU Referendum and the emergence of a new Prime Minister the direction of family policy in England remains to be clarified. The future of flagship initiatives of the previous administration such as the Troubled Families Programme and the Life Chances Strategy remain uncertain. Taking advantage of the hiatus to take stock, this article raises concerns regarding the effects of previous ad hoc family policy development with particular reference to parenting support and relationship support. Borrowing an emphasis on coherent, coordinated service provision and 'whole-family' approaches from the Troubled Families Programme alongside the 'life course' narrative of the Life Chances Strategy, it is argued that these concepts offer the framework for a more integrated family policy including both universal and targeted elements.

No abstract

No abstract