Assessments within family proceedings
Providing direct access to experienced professionals when you need them
Providing high quality assessments within family law proceedings for over 23 years
Carter Brown was set up in 2001 by two Children’s Guardians. Providing a high quality, accessible and responsive service to children, young people and families has been at the heart of what we do ever since.
Assessments produced within family law proceedings offer insight into how a parent, child or family functions and the support or interventions that may need to be put in place.
Ready to make a referral?
It only takes 5 minutes, an expert pack with CVs, costs and timescales can be sent to you in as little as 30 minutes if you’re at court.
We are mindful of the requirement to comply with the PLO timescales, our assessments can be filed in 6 weeks or sooner.
Our network of experts have a wealth of experience in providing assessments within family proceedings
Make a referral in just 5 minutes
Our experts come from a range of disciplines, with experience working within local authorities, the NHS, HM Prison Service and the private sector. We can assist you in locating the most suitable expert for the assessment required and offer complete transparency through the provision of full CVs, timescales and costs which fall within Legal Aid Agency guidelines.
Our experts seek to work within the guidance set out in Practice Direction 25: Experts and Assessors in Family Proceedings, particularly Practice Direction 25B which covers the content of the expert’s report.
Our safer recruitment process ensures that the experts we provide are in good standing with the relevant professional and regulatory bodies and that they have the necessary skills and experience. All experts hold appropriate insurance and are subject to DBS checks before undertaking any work.
Within family law proceedings, we can offer specialist assessments relating to:
- Parenting capacity
- Risk assessments relating to violence, re-offending, sexual offending, domestic abuse, or sexually harmful behaviours
- Cognitive ability
- Intellectual disabilities
- Mental capacity
- Brain injury
- Interaction between physical health difficulties and parenting
- Adult mental health
- Self harm and suicidal
- Neurodiversity, including Autistic Spectrum Disorders and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
- Specialist parenting assessments, using the PAMS, ParentAssess and CUBAS models
- The impact of trauma, abuse and neglect
- Post-traumatic Stress Disorder and Complex Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
- Insight into concerns
- Motivation to change
- Attachment and attachment difficulties
- Family dynamics
- Honour-based violence
- Children and young people’s mental health and well-being
- Educational needs
- Placement considerations
- Emotional and behavioural difficulties
- Impact of parental separation and issues relating to where children live and who they spend time with
Ready to make a referral?
It only takes 5 minutes, an expert pack with CVs, costs and timescales can be sent to you in as little as 30 minutes if you’re at court.
We are mindful of the requirement to comply with the PLO timescales, our assessments can be filed in 6 weeks or sooner.
Assessments we can deliver
We strive to offer a high quality, professional service that provides direct access to experienced professionals when you need it.
Our unique approach
Carter Brown are one of the UK’s leading multidisciplinary assessment service, providing assessments, consultancy and training to Solicitors, Local Authorities, Organisations and the courts. So what makes us market leaders?
Quality
We provide a variety of in-built systems to support our experienced experts, these include active case management through one point of contact, an in-house proofreading team and professional consultation. When you make a referral to us, you’ll always receive a full estimate of costs, including a breakdown of your time and expenses.
Convenience
We manage each referral individually, matching the needs of your assessment to the expertise and experience of our experts. From one point of contact we will manage the referral and assessment process for you. Our aim is to save you time by providing an accessible and flexible service that immediately meets your assessment needs.
Best value
Our service is completely transparent; we provide expert witness assessments within Legal Aid Agency guidelines and other assessment or project work is completed within a fixed fee. Our robust safer recruitment process validates relevant expertise, excellent practice and compliance including DBS checks, references, professional registration and insurances.