Who is this toolkit for?

This Toolkit is for all family law professionals working to support families to move forward and resolve their family law disputes.  

What is the toolkit?

The toolkit is made up of 3 key elements:

  • Identifying individual needs and screening: using the ‘All about Me document’ a framework created by FLANC for helping clients identify their specific and individual needs

  • The Barriers to Participation tool: a way for family law professionals to work through the options available to them when meeting specific needs of a neurodivergent client 

  • The Agreement of Process framework: a document recording what has been agreed by all parties to support the neurodivergent client to enable them to maximise their participation in NCDR 

How to use the toolkit?

This toolkit is designed to enable family law professionals to work with neurodivergent people to co-create a framework that will support and maximise their ability to participate in an NCDR process.  The aim is that whenever this work is carried out it will accompany the neurodivergent person throughout their NCDR journey and could also be used if there is any need to enter the court system. 

Some professionals will be able to go straight to the Agreement of Process and work through this with their clients to create a document that will underpin their experience of NCDR.   In this case the NCDR professional would start with the AoP.  For other individuals it will be necessary for the NCDR professional to support them to think about what their needs are.  Even when a client is aware of their needs, the Screening Tool can be used by family law professionals to think about the options available to them in responding to those needs in their specific NCDR setting.  

So, the message is please dip into this toolkit and use it at any point in your client’s journey.  We have created it to be helpful at any stage. 

How to use this Toolkit 

Why is NCDR helpful for neurodivergent clients?

NCDR provides more flexibilty than the court process.  It can accommodate ways of working that are far better suited to maximise participation. 

Identifying individual Needs and Screening
Barriers to Participation Tool
Agreement of Process

Practitioners are reminded that neurodivergence intersects with other vulnerabilities which might result in power imbalances both in court and NCDR.  Practitioners should be careful to screen for other vulnerabilities alongside neurodivergence mindful that domestic abuse and emotional manipulation might also be at play.