Supported by the non-profit organisation Lumos, British Family Court Judge Nick Crichton, a pioneer of the Drug and Alcohol Courts in the UK, is advising his contemporaries in the Czech Republic as part of the overall reform process in the country to end the institutionalization of children. Nick Crichton has 30 years of experience of sitting as a District Judge and has worked with children and families. He presented at the Czech Judicial Academy, a training and education academy for Czech judges in Kromeriz, Czech Republic on 20-21 January.
In particular, he is focusing on how to involve children in the decision-making process in judicial proceedings, and how judges can collaborate with social workers to support vulnerable families to stay together. This is of particular significance as the Czech Republic continues to place children in large-scale institutions as a response to family crisis and abuse allegations. “By placing a greater emphasis on the role of alternative family care for vulnerable children – over large scale institutions – the Czech judiciary have a huge role to play in ending the institutionalisation of some of the most vulnerable children in the country,” Crichton said.
In 2014, there were 8,285 children living in institutions in the Czech Republic despite overwhelming evidence demonstrating the developmental damage caused to children from institutionalization. Lumos has been working in the Czech Republic since 2008 to support the reform of the entire care, welfare and social support systems that are needed to end the institutionalisation of children in the country. Since 2008, the numbers of children in institutions in the country has reduced by 20%.