Family Justice Observatory
The Project
The Nuffield Family Justice Observatory (FJO) – Development Phase
The Nuffield Family Justice Observatory will improve the use of data and research evidence in the family justice system in England and Wales in order to support the best possible decisions for children.
The leadership team, led by Professor Karen Broadhurst at Lancaster University, includes Dr Lisa Holmes and colleagues from the Rees Centre.
External Team Members
- Professor Karen Broadhurst, Dr Bachar Alrouh & Claire Mason, Centre for Child and Family Justice Research, Lancaster University
- Mary Ryan & Dr Susannah Bowyer, Research in Practice, Dartington Hall
Reports
The first estimate and profile of newborns in care proceedings in England using national population-level data:
Born Into Care: Newborns in care proceedings in England – Summary report October 2018
Research Team
More Projects
-
Belonging in education: co-designing an evidence-informed model of practiceApril 2025 - March 2026Building on previous work, this project focuses on progressively working towards building more equitable and inclusive education systems, where belonging is the guiding principle.
-
Evaluation of the Pupil Premium Plus Post-16 ProgrammeSeptember 2022 - March 2025The Rees Centre is working in partnership with Cordis Bright on an evaluation for the Department for Education of its Pupil Premium Plus Post-16 programme.
-
Analysis of Costs in Traditional and Early Permanence Adoption RoutesDecember 2023A newly completed project report exploring the costs of adoption in early permanence and traditional adoption routes is now available.
-
Understanding and responding to the needs of kinship families from Black and Asian communitiesApril 2023 - October 2024Working in partnership with Kinship and supported by the KPMG Foundation this study will focus on kinship carers from Black and Asian communities, using interviews and standardised measures to better understand their experiences and needs and provide recommendations for practice and policy.
-
Evaluation of the Mockingbird programmeMay 2023We have been asked to evaluate the Mockingbird programme is part of the Department for Education (DfE) funded Supporting Families: Investing in Practice programme, which is expanding and rolling out promising interventions that came through the DfE’s Innovation Programme.
-
Future of CareNovember 2021 - October 2024National charity, Become, is working with the Rees Centre to develop a new tool to measure the success of care leavers.
More News
-
NewsNew report calls for stronger support as virtual school heads’ duties extend to children with a social workerOctober 7, 2025
-
BlogBelonging and becoming: Rethinking children’s identity development in foster care and adoptionSeptember 29, 2025
-
BlogReflections on the latest Rees Centre lunchtime webinar: Pathways into and through Higher Education for young people with experience of children’s social careJuly 17, 2025
-
BlogEnding child maltreatment: reflections on a Rees Centre webinar from Ben PerksJuly 11, 2025

Project Details
Start date: April 2018
End date: June 2019
Funder: Nuffield Foundation
Theme: Rees Centre
Research Team
More Projects
-
Belonging in education: co-designing an evidence-informed model of practiceApril 2025 - March 2026Building on previous work, this project focuses on progressively working towards building more equitable and inclusive education systems, where belonging is the guiding principle.
-
Evaluation of the Pupil Premium Plus Post-16 ProgrammeSeptember 2022 - March 2025The Rees Centre is working in partnership with Cordis Bright on an evaluation for the Department for Education of its Pupil Premium Plus Post-16 programme.
-
Analysis of Costs in Traditional and Early Permanence Adoption RoutesDecember 2023A newly completed project report exploring the costs of adoption in early permanence and traditional adoption routes is now available.
-
Understanding and responding to the needs of kinship families from Black and Asian communitiesApril 2023 - October 2024Working in partnership with Kinship and supported by the KPMG Foundation this study will focus on kinship carers from Black and Asian communities, using interviews and standardised measures to better understand their experiences and needs and provide recommendations for practice and policy.
-
Evaluation of the Mockingbird programmeMay 2023We have been asked to evaluate the Mockingbird programme is part of the Department for Education (DfE) funded Supporting Families: Investing in Practice programme, which is expanding and rolling out promising interventions that came through the DfE’s Innovation Programme.
-
Future of CareNovember 2021 - October 2024National charity, Become, is working with the Rees Centre to develop a new tool to measure the success of care leavers.
More News
-
NewsNew report calls for stronger support as virtual school heads’ duties extend to children with a social workerOctober 7, 2025
-
BlogBelonging and becoming: Rethinking children’s identity development in foster care and adoptionSeptember 29, 2025
-
BlogReflections on the latest Rees Centre lunchtime webinar: Pathways into and through Higher Education for young people with experience of children’s social careJuly 17, 2025
-
BlogEnding child maltreatment: reflections on a Rees Centre webinar from Ben PerksJuly 11, 2025