When Nickii first started using drugs, she was barely a teenager. By 18, she was a heroin addict. By 21, she was in prison. Years later, she bundled her children into a car at five in the morning, convinced she was saving them from social services. Family Drug and Alcohol Courts changed everything. Today, she has full custody of all three children.

“I took my kids on the run in a Fiesta at five in the morning because I thought I was saving them from social services. That was my normal,” she said. The court’s intervention changed that for good.

How Family Drug and Alcohol Courts Work

Founded in 2008, Family Drug and Alcohol Courts (FDACs) tackle a stubborn reality. Drug and alcohol misuse drives nearly two thirds of cases where a local authority pursues care proceedings for suspected child abuse or neglect.

Instead of treating addiction as a moral failing, the FDAC model treats it as a health issue. Multi-disciplinary teams of social workers, psychologists and addiction specialists work directly alongside parents. Judges hold regular one-to-one meetings to track progress and build genuine trust.

The results speak for themselves. A 2023 study found that 52% of children returned to their parents after FDAC proceedings. In the standard care system, that figure was just 13%. Parents going through specialist family courts for addiction are also four times more likely to achieve abstinence.

“Even when you think on paper, there’s no way that they’re going to make it, they do,” said Judge Patrick Perusko, the designated family judge for Milton Keynes and Buckinghamshire.

Family Drug and Alcohol Courts Face a Funding Crisis

The central government cut direct funding for Family Drug and Alcohol Courts in 2019 to 2020. Since then, councils shoulder the entire cost. Many are already stretched to the limit.

Two courts closed in the past year alone. Newcastle’s FDAC shut last year. The Black Country initiative followed on 31 March 2025. Only 13 FDACs now operate across England and Wales, reaching a fraction of the families who need them.

The need is growing, not shrinking. England recorded 83,630 looked-after children in March 2024, a rise of more than 20% over a decade. The figure dropped 2% in 2025, but the children’s social care system remains under enormous pressure.

Vicki Mulligan, interim director of the Centre for Justice Innovation, called the postcode lottery a travesty. “There is a question as to why this isn’t everywhere,” she said. “They are facing very, very challenging financial circumstances and hopefully we can keep them all going, but that isn’t certain.”

The Real Cost of Getting It Wrong

The stakes are not abstract for those who lived through the system.

Kia met fellow FDAC graduate Nickii for the first time after both completed their separate proceedings. She recalled her first day in court. “I hated myself. I couldn’t look at myself in the mirror,” she said. “But they show you that you have got a purpose, that you are a decent human being.”

A third parent put it even more plainly. Speaking to Channel 4 News, she said: “If I hadn’t been through FDAC, I’d be dead.”

Judge Carole Burgher oversees specialist family court proceedings for addiction in Birmingham. She points to results well beyond the courtroom. “There is a reduction in criminal activity, a reduction in anti-social behaviour, housing circumstances are resolved,” she said. “I cannot imagine a scenario where all those families who have been through FDAC have not had the opportunities that they have had.”

The Financial Case for Specialist Family Courts for Addiction

Every pound invested in an FDAC team generates an estimated £3.20 in net savings to the taxpayer. Those savings flow from lower costs across health, criminal justice and social care.

Cherie Blair KC has publicly called FDAC a model that “deserves not only to survive but to grow.”

The government says it is investing £2.4 billion to keep families together and reduce the number of children entering care. A spokesperson confirmed the government will publish a Family Justice Strategy later this year. But ministers offered no direct commitment to fund the specialist family courts for addiction that campaigners say have already proven their worth.

The evidence is clear. The savings are real. The only question is whether the government will act before more courts close their doors.

Source: dbrecoveryresources