“Pathfinder” Procedure in Applications under the Children Act 1989

In the Family Court, there is currently a new procedure being utilised when an application is made by a parent to decide residence, contact arrangements, or to determine other issues concerning their children.

This new procedure is called “Pathfinder” and the pilot was adopted by the Birmingham Family Court in 2024. It is important for parents who are considering making an application under the Children Act 1989 to be aware of this new procedure, as it will likely impact the way any such application is ran by the Court.

There are two main stages to the “Pathfinder” procedure:

1. Information Gathering and Assessment; and
2. Intervention and Decision Making.

Information Gathering and Assessment

This stage is also sometimes called the “Gatekeeping” stage. The Court will look at the application and will usually ask an organization called the Children and Families Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) to prepare a report. This is known as a Child Impact Report. In some cases, the Local Authority may complete this report instead, such as if they are already involved with a family.

When preparing a Child Impact Report, the author will undertake lots of work with a family and make their own enquiries with other authorities, such as the police or medical professionals. The purpose of this report is for the expert to tell the Court about what Orders should be made, in line with the children’s best interests which is always the main concern in these kinds of applications. This process is expected to take around 8 weeks in total.

Once the Child Impact Report is received, the Court will consider the case again and decide whether there needs to be an in-person hearing or whether the case can finish at that stage. This would only happen if both parties were in agreement with the recommendations in the Child Impact Report.

Intervention and Decision Making

The aim of the Court is for parties to reach an agreement. However, in some circumstances, this will not be possible. In those types of cases, the Court would hold an in person hearing which would take place around 2 – 3 weeks after. The Court may ask the parties to obtain further evidence from the authorities or request statements from them so that the Court is aware of their concerns and has all the relevant information. At this hearing, the Court has the power to make a final decision about the arrangements for the
children, if it feels it is appropriate to do so. It will be appropriate to do so when all of the required information is available to allow the Court to consider a Final Order.

Review

In very rare cases, the Judge dealing with an application may hold a review before making a Final Order. However, this is only in cases where a Judge feels that this is necessary and appropriate and it is up to a Judge about how this will be actioned.