The Ministry of Justice has enabled us to extend our advice and support into family courts in Exeter, Newton Abbot, Plymouth, Bodmin and Truro until April 2025. We’ve been chosen for the innovative Improving Outcomes Through Legal Support Fund (distributed by The Access to Justice Foundation). As a result, families going through courts in Devon and Cornwall without legal representation will now be able to get support from CASS+.
Thinktank at the Ministry of Justice
We were invited to join a group of key influencers at a roundtable in London. Consequently, HMCTS national teams are gaining understanding about the court-user experience at the Crime Jurisdictional Public Engagement Group. By sharing our knowledge, experience and ideas, we can all discover what works and what doesn’t.
Knowledge exchange
To clarify, we are one of just a couple of organisations who offer court-specific help. However, everything is interconnected. As a key referrer, we were so pleased to exchange ideas with many of our national partners face-to-face:
Citizen Advice Witness Service
Independent Domestic Abuse Services (IDAS)
Institute for Crime & Justice Policy Research
Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime
Office of Victims’ Commissioner
Lynchpin in the South West
On top of this, we felt honoured to represent both rural and urban communities in Devon and Cornwall at a national level. We aim to be the connector in this huge chain of services, ready and willing to deal with social inequality.
Evaluation
Most importantly, we need to evaluate our impact. With the support of the Lloyds Bank Foundation, Cornish+Grey have advised us on new tools for collecting data. On top of this, The Theory of Change will be our starting point for an outcome measurement framework. As part of this project, we are taking advice from respected evaluators at The Centre for Justice Innovation and Tina Wilkinson of Wilkinson Evaluation to improve evaluation.
Working together
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Justice has already sent a representative to Truro to observe our team and we look forward to working with them to improve the lives of those facing court. In the same vein, we will ensure that our local HM Court & Tribunals Service teams get the chance to contribute to this vital research.
Right place, right time
We are in the right place at the right time, independent of the system, and completely free. We will continue to use our knowledge and connections to find solutions to complicated situations.
Carole Edwards, CEO
Contact us
If you need support at court in Devon or Cornwall, please contact CASS+: admin@cassplus.org, or visit https://www.cassplus.org/contact-us/ for your local office.