Holistic Family Mediation welcomes the further £5.4m investment the government is making into the family mediation voucher scheme, to provide a brighter future for thousands of families.
The funds will allow more separated parents to benefit from up to £500 of family mediation services, provided by Family Mediation Council Accredited mediators.
It is far better for children and for parents to work together to try to agree the way forward following separation rather than go to court, but this can be hard for people to do without help.
Family mediation provides parents a safe and supported structure to sort out the best arrangements for the children, considering what is going to be important for them, as they grow up. It also provides parents with the space and time they need to think about what is most important for their children, and for the whole family. Each separating family can get up to £500 of funding for family mediation where there are issues relating to children that need to be discussed and agreed.
Since April 2021 the Vouchers have supported over 8,400 families. This has had a dramatic impact on the lives of these families with the vast majority reaching whole or partial agreement and avoiding any contested family court proceedings. The increased investment in the scheme announced by the Ministry of Justice for 2022/2023 will allow around 10,200 more families to be helped to access regulated family mediation and make arrangements that work best for them.
As a Family Mediation Council (FMC) Accredited Mediator based in the East Midland serving clients nationally and overseas via my online private family mediation service Holistic Family Mediation, I signed up to offer vouchers under the scheme since the launch of this invaluable initiative back in March 2021.
The Voucher Scheme has proved to be very successful with the research surveys carried out by the FMC showing that nearly two-thirds of the cases completed under the scheme had a full or partial agreement on issues after opting to mediate.
The additional cash injection more than doubles the investment into the initiative since it launched in March 2021, with total funding now standing at £8.7m.
Mr Dominic Raab, the Justice Secretary, said:
“We are investing over £5m this year alone to help more families to resolve their disputes without the stress and trauma of lengthy courtroom battles. Mediation protects children, by removing the bitterness of parental disputes from the amplifying effect of a courtroom – and allows the family courts to focus on adjudicating cases with serious safeguarding concerns, including domestic abuse.”
Mediation supports separating couples to work together through their issues arising out of separation and /or divorce to reach their own informed agreements that they are both prepared to accept regarding child arrangements and financial rights and responsibilities, rather than giving up the decision-making power to a judge or bench of magistrates.
If you are curious about how holistic family mediation can help support you and your family through separation and/or divorce, you may wish to consider our FAQs page and/or book in a Free Discovery Call via our services page.
If you are ready to get the ball rolling, please complete and submit a Self-Referral Form and book your initial separate Mediation Information & Assessment Meeting (MIAM) online.
We will then get in touch with your ex-partner (unless requested to hold-off at this stage) to encourage them to engage in the process highlighting the benefits of family mediation - low cost, staying in control and to have a quicker resolution compared to court based proceedings.