Our ambition is that no family experiences the removal of their child more than once. To achieve our ambition, we aim to influence policy and practice. Our influencing ‘asks’ fall under three categories:
1. The children’s social care system
2. Relationships for families
3. Wider societal issues impacting women that Pause works with
Whether it is through policy reports, campaign activities or responding to government consultations, we collaborate with and learn from women and Pause Practices, to ensure women’s voices are part of system changes.
Read our reports
Repeat removals
Pause’s Never More Than Once report sets out how the government can better support birth families, so that the removal of a child into the care system never happens more than once. Providing birth parents with the right support could thereby reducing the number of children entering care, as well as avoiding trauma for families and saving money to the public purse.
Cost of living crisis
Pause’s Heating or Eating briefing finds that, in addition to having to deal with increased costs in all aspects of their lives – eating, heating and travel – women who have had children removed from their care are also facing challenges in a unique aspect of their lives: maintaining relationships with their children.
Expert witness assessments in care proceedings
Our report, Set Up to Fail, highlights how the disconnect between the recommendations in expert witness reports and the availability of local mental health services, is setting women up to fail.
Relationships with children
Women working with Pause tell us that their relationships with their children are hugely important. Support to maintain these connections is consistently one of their top priorities. Read our policy reports on relationships with children and letterbox contact to find out more about our campaign work on this issue.
Maternal mental health
Whilst Pause is not a specialist in women’s maternal mental health, organisationally we have a unique insight into how current services and processes impact women who have experienced – or are at risk of experiencing – the removal of children from their care.
Read our responses to government consultations
Care Review
The Care Review was set up by the government to look at how the children’s social care system can improve, to provide all children with loving, safe and stable families. The Review invited organisations and individuals to provide feedback to their early thinking. In order to engage, we held online focus groups with women working with Pause, Pause Practitioners and the Pause national team.
Women’s Health Strategy
Pause submitted a response to the Department for Health and Social Care’s consultation on their Women’s Health Strategy. Our submission talked about how women working with Pause often feel excluded from discussions on women’s health. To prepare our submission, we held a virtual focus group with four women working with Pause.
