Family Drug and Alcohol Court - Information for professionals

The FDAC process is geared to two different timescales: the timescales for the child and the timescales for the court. Where parents are not meeting their children’s needs the question becomes how long can those children afford to wait for the situation to improve? The answer is that it depends on the children’s age and developmental stage. We call these periods of
acceptable delay the ‘children’s timescales’.

In all FDAC proceedings, permanency outcomes are paramount for the child/ren. The court also has timescales. Just as in normal proceedings, the expectation in FDAC is that proceedings will end within 26 weeks when children are not returning home to their parents. However, the President of the Family Division has cited families making progress in FDAC as one of the reasons the court might allow proceedings to go beyond the 26-week mark.

Below is the timetable for the court and how this fits with the assessments and intervention.

FDAC Timeline

• Week 0 - Local authority issues application
• Week 1 - First Hearing for Introduction and Initial Screening
• Week 2 - Initial Intervention Planning Meeting
• Week 3 - FDAC Initial Parenting Assessment report and Intervention Plan submission

Week 4-18 - Trial for Change

• Week 4 - CMH sign up and Trial for Change officially begins
• Week 4-8 - FDAC Child’s Needs Meeting held
• Week 6,8,10,12,14 and 16 - Fortnightly non-lawyer review hearings
• Week 10 - Second Intervention Planning Meeting

Week 18-26 (and potentially Week 34-50) Extension of Trial for Change/Post proceeding care/or contact ended/contact reduced

• Week 18 - Third intervention planning meeting
• Week 19 - FDAC Review Parenting Assessment
• Week 24 - IRH and potential early final hearing
• Week 26 - Minutes and review reports

Within Week 26 - Potential contested final hearing