CAFCASS

[TallulahBellz]

I am starting a campaign, in conjunction with other parents, who have or who still have involvement with Cafcass.

The head of Cafcass, Anthony Douglas, believes that children are capable of knowing what is best for them from the age of 7. In reality this means that Cafcass officers ask children what they want and then make recommendations that the children have asked for. No account is taken that the parent with care may be coercing (at best) or indoctrinating (at worst) the children to say certain things, ie I don't want to see Mum/Dad anymore.

Our campaign is:

1. To raise awareness of this within the government;
2. To raise awareness of this within society at large;
3. To put pressure on the government to replace Anthony Douglas with somebody with a more common-sense knowledge of children;
4. To ask the government to force retrospective reviews of cases where children have been removed from their mother's care and placed in the father's care, despite there being serious allegations of abuse by the father (this is currently what happens when a mother refuses to force her children to see an abusive father) with a view to the children being returned to their mother's care;
5. To reduce the power that Cafcass have in family courts - at the moment no matter what, the Cafcass worker is believed above the non-resident parent and the Judge will always make an order supporting the cafcass recommendations. Most Judges don't even take any active part in the proceedings, they simply rubber stamp the cafcass recommendations.

This may seem like big aims, and it is, but it is what is urgently needed to stop more and more children being needlessly traumatised by being ripped from the care of their mother at moments notice (literally), and in some cases never seeing their mother again.

We hope to have some well known names to support our campaign, but we need as many families who are affected by Cafcass to come forward and join the campaign. Without real people and their real stories this will fail. We also need real examples to take to government to show them the extent of the problem.

Thanks for reading this and get in touch through MN to get involved.

Ladyclare, sincere thanks for your comments on this. I was the victim of domestic abuse that gathered pace through my pregnancy and resulted in me leaving my husband nearly five years ago with my four month old dd. I did not and do not present well in court. After nineteen court appearances spanning four and a half years, I am traumatised by the experience and the constant anxiety has made me physically ill. My ex represents himself and so is given a great deal of leeway, driving a coach and horses through proper court procedure and so on.

My ex has had me in court ever since I left him, even though I have never disputed or withheld contact and never will. I am scared my ex will abduct our daughter. He is white british. This is relevant because when I voiced my fears to the head of CAFCASS where I live I was told not to worry because 'it's not as if he's from Pakistan or anything'.

During our contact with CAFCASS, my ex rang our worker constantly asking her to ask me pointless questions, which she duly did. After nearly a year of involvement, CAFCASS said they would no longer be involved as they thought they were doing more harm than good. It took another year for the first case to be out of court, during which time I was left to deal with him by myself.

In a finding of fact hearing ordered by CAFCASS, my ex was not asked to give evidence though I was cross examined for hours on end, with him laughing at my distress in court. CAFCASS did not challenge this, even though the head of CAFCASS was in court for the hearing, at the insistence of my ex.

Our CAFCASS worker could not accept that domestic abuse was at the heart of the issue in our case, that i had left him because he hit me. She even at one point said: "you never know, you might even get back together one day"

The CAFCASS worker in our case was in no way up to managing such a complicated case and could not handle my ex who quite frankly bullied her.

CAFCASS officers have too much power and I think you would find a great many judges agreeing with that. They do not have enough training, volunteers who run the contact centre local to me - debatable in itself - aren't trained either. I have personal and professional experience of CAFCASS and it is a deeply flawed and potentially dangerous service that needs to be either properly resourced and invested in or replaced.

hi so glad this topic exist, i am going through a very messy divorce no thanks to his lordship. all the years since my boys were born he had not much to do with their up bringing but now all of a sudden (when he has to pay maintenance) he has remembered that he loves them. we went to court over a month ago and a cafcass officer was ofcourse ordered to speak to both of us and then to the children. after speaking to both of us and hearing my concerens she decided that childrens involvement was not needed, well she made a report and we were told to right and statement and go back to court we did las friday. when we got to eventually go before the magistrate my exhusband insisted to the court that he wanted the boys interviewed wel i could not believe it after all the concerens i had raise with the court and the cafcass the court ordered an interview of my boys to be carried out. i am still in shock. what are they doing wasting mine and my boys life with dragging this case on and on we are not back in court for another three months now. where is the justice for my boys how much presure do they have to carry on their little shoulders before they break and then i will have to watch my boys suffer i can not understand and hate this justice system if that is what they call it.

I am afraid to say that my involvement with Cafcass was less than positive for either myself or my son. At the tender age of 3, Cafcass thought it was ok to send my son overnight with his father, his new girlfriend and their two children sharing a room that had no bed for him to sleep in even after I raised concerns about the father's behaviour towards my son and the fact that my son was scared of his father. I felt like my concerns were not listened to and that automatic favour was found with the father in the report. In court the judge did not see any reason to shy away from the Cafcass' recommendations and therefore overnight was granted. Nine months down the line, my son has distinct behavioural issuses is violent and very angry to the point where his nursery have noticed a difference in him when he goes after contact.
My son started hitting me and my fiance after being such a happy go lucky boy, and on one occasion when he returned he told us how his was hit in the stomach by his father. Social services have been involved and a judge has suspended overnight access until another Cafcass report is written. Social Services did an intial assessment but he did not divuldge any information so they have no further involvment.
I only feel that if my Cafcass officer had listened to me in the first place then we would not be at this point. I now- having very little confidence in Cafcass (and also offically complained about my treatment) have to rely upon them again so that they don't condemn us to the same torture as last time. I am merely asking for no over night, not completely getting rid of contact, but both parties on the other side are completely unreasonable it's such a nightmare. Does anyone have any advice?

I've had a terrible experience with Cafcass! They basically helped my ex harass and intimidate me for 4 years until enough external witnesses came forward to enable a conviction in the criminal court.

Cafcass made bad judgements from the beginning of our case, this put me and the children in danger. I challenged them on this which they didn't like at all! I felt that after I had challenged them they arrogantly tried to prove themselves right at the expense of me and the children. Even when the evidence became very clear of my ex's abusive behaviour.

I'm a good mother and a good person and I didn't deserve the intimidation I received from Cafcass!

Thank god for domestic abuse training in the police force otherwise I would have had a nervous breakdown.

I'm happy to discuss my case in detail if it will help the process to be fairer for other families.

hi everyone,

having gone through most issues to with family law and the dreaded Cafcass i can say both experiences with cafcass were dreadful, they made me feel like i have done something wrong when i am the good parent, i work full time have always looked after my son, but the other side pays no money causes trouble for my son and me but i am the one they are rude too.

Been through it all i am on my second order to remove my son from juristiction to Canada with my partner now, i have started representing myself as having studied how it all works due to a bad solicitor last time, i am taking no chances 2 years later i read law books in the evening after work just so i dont look stupid in my up and coming court case. what i would like to say is i have had 7 years experience off all this and the system in this country is def for the fathers or maybe bad parents dont want to be sexiest there are good dads out there. To everyone talking with cafcass be careful they are not what they seem i have spoken with 3 and the first one addressed me by diiferent name and had got the wrong details to my case, the 2nd kept telling she was going on holidays soon and wondered if she could write the report for my case when she gets back, and the third didnt have any details of case at all and rang me up at work very rude.
I would like to offer my help in anyway i can with advice or support as i think after all this rubbish i have gone through and still going through i can help a little. Regards to all xx

CAFCASS. In the interest of the child? . Yes of course, it is obviously the very best thing for a 3yo child to be left for an entire weekend with a dope-smoking father, who is living with someone that has had all 3 of her own dc taken off them for neglect. When said father hasn't seen child at ALL for the previous 6 months because he was 'too busy'. When there wasn't a suitable place for the child to sleep. When his only interest in getting 'shared care' were to make sure that, as he was on benefits (while I was working and having to pay for the privelige of CAFCASS's decidedly dodgy 'recommendations' that the court takes as gospel), he would have to pay precisly NO maintenance.

I won't support this campaign at all.

Children's wishes should 100% be respected, taken into account and influence the decision.

Has anyone had any experience of dealing with Cafcas in Ilford Essex.

"This may seem like big aims, and it is, but it is what is urgently needed to stop more and more children being needlessly traumatised by being ripped from the care of their mother at moments notice (literally), and in some cases never seeing their mother again."

Sometimes this is necessary, but sometimes it happens because of false allegations and because the child/children has been manipulated/coerced. The Family Justice System and all those who serve it, including CAFCASS, should be more alert to the risks and more effective in dealing with false allegations. However, it is fathers who are usually marginalised or excluded because of false allegations. To see this as a problem only for mothers is absurd and dangerous.

Im currently involved with caffcass. During my case they never spoke to me before making a decision that my son should live with his father. MY sons father raped me, fired a gun at me, found to have a slight emotional detachment disorder. ,My son got so stressed by the whole event he developed hives, started to be come oversensitive, lied about my ex partner and i was really rude to me his dad was constantly on at him drawing him away from me. My own life was hell for two years. constant claims of abuse. cafcass said i neglected my son. i was stressed at the whole proceedings. I felt isolated. my barrister said i should go along with everything the caffass officer wanted or my ex would have full custody. cafcass accused me of not coping. They said my son was to go back to his family yet my ex never saw his family. My son was not the son i brought up telling so many lies. my son didn tget on with my new partner becuase my new partner couldnt stand the way my son treated me only to be used by my ex partner that my son ws not happy at all whilsyt he was living with me. cafcass siad my son should go and live with my ex.. my fragile relationship brought about by the proceedings has now completely broke down. conversations are misinterpreted. My son has been with my ex for two months during that time my ex has recorded and edited every text message recorded every conversation, edited and lied about what i ve been talking to my son about. My ex 's statements through the proceedings was total lies and fabricated. the cafcass officer said i had money problems. I did, but only until the ancillary relief proceedings were sorted out after which i would be ok. as my ex put a notice on my house when he had his huge house and grounds. I sacked my solicitor after spending 26,000 on fees. the court case is still not over. my ex had regular contact every other weekend and spoke to my son three times a week, i ve seen my son for one night in two months and spoke to him four times.
I ve now given up . i no longer have the energy to spend hours refuting every word in my ex s statement , hes turned my son against me. This week i feel really low but relieved its all over. Its affected my health. i ve not a job because my ex sacked me , took my car away form me too as well as sending social services around my house. my son claimed my new partner threatened him with a knife... he was peeling an apple.
I ve been told that my sons interest should be put first. I am in making sure his mum is happy and healthy and not subjected to any more abuse and harassment.

HAHAHA What a joke that is. tell me why didnt my caffcass office interview me then before making his decision to ask the reasons why thinsg were as they were with my case then ? haha cafcass is a joke .
hands up how many cafcass officer would warrant half an hour spent in their bedroom for lying as a punishment , after being warened then it discussed as neglect ?

answers please on a stamped address envelope to bristol city cafcass office

My son came back over tired, moody and rude for two days after a contact weekedn withhis father for two years..... and they still let him live with him....
hahahah anyone going to help me raise another 20,000 to start again with a new cafcass officer , barrister of infact ... all family proceedings court in a different county. all files and persons involved should be subject to purgery laws...after all a child should be put with someone whose dishonest ,lie and be deceitful to a judge surely in the first instance

christinee, you might want to start a new thread for this. But to answer your question, you don't need to be polite but given that your child is likely to overhear what is said between you it would be best for your son if you're not trading insults with his grandmother. Is there any reason why you need to say much more than "Hello ex's mum, here's DS, I'll see you back at 3pm" or similar?

How interesting, in our case CAFCASS went with the mum, and decided that very brief contact would be best, only very occaisionally (what the mum hadn't said was that she'd concealed the pregnancy, and then had a 'miracle' immaculate conception, she was now concealing contact, maintenance and the court proceedings from her parents). The judge said (quite rightly) this was utter rubbish, and we never saw CAFCASS again. The mum's only arguement against unsupervised contact was that DH didn't have a car seat. Seriously.

It would take years to balance the amount we spent on legal fees with the miniscule reduction in maintenance. Oh, and as it stands, even if DH had SD 4nights a week, he would still be liable to pay maintenance as the NRP. 50/50 contact still allows for a 'PWC' and an 'NRP' as child benefit cannot be split.

I am in agreement with you regarding CAFCASS - I have a child subject of Special Guardianship Order that has been subjected to endless CAFCASS Officers attending our home. The child is asked questions about contact gives the same reply each time but is ignored. The CAFCASS Officers didn't even read the file of evidence about the mother and father before coming to our home. It is awful.
I thought this government were trying to stop children from being in the Court System for years on end. My situation has been going on for 6 yrs now and the child has nightmares every time they turn up.
Mumsnet should support this campaign - it's one thing for a child to have worries and concerns about contact with a parent but the added pressure of a CAFCASS Officers with a naive optimism is worse.

What age do they actually start listening to the children does anyone know.

They should campaign - I have a child that has nightmares when they turn up - an agency CAFCASS Officers with pre-conceived ideas that will not listen to the child did n't read the file of evidence and submitted a factually incorrect report to the Court. Knowing the child saw her as a threat and had nightmares she even insisted on seeing the child before a hearing - the reason because she hadn't been for a few months just in case the Judge asked.
I thought this Government was taking children out of the Court System my situation has gone on for 6 yrs it is abusive to children and adds to the problems they already have.
Children need a voice and their mothers. From a service users point of view CAFCASS is horrendous they have a remit which does not provide a voice for those that need to be heard.

cafcass is only there to harrass and intimidate the children and mothers into agreeing contact with abusive fathers. even when a children repeatedly state the same things over and over during six years of protracted contact cases they just want them to give in to the non resideant father hoping the sistuatuion will just go away and then it wont be there problem. Cafcass should be disbanded. If only the children could sue the particular cafcass officer later in life then they then might actually read the case files and listen to whats actually going on if they are then PERSONNALLY held acountable for thwere reports. Caffcass are ABUSING children emotionally!!

It seems to me, after currently dealing with the awful Cafcass, that they only intend to promote an easy option for themselves. They fail to understand concerns over past abuse and violence towards the child and promote the opposition as ?a reformed character? and how we should ?forget the past!?
Well I'm sorry Cafcass but over my dead body am I allowing my child to encounter a repeated performance from the past!
I seriously hope that Cafcass do get abolished and that the courts start to listen to genuine concerns of the current parent.

Has anyone made an official complaint against Cafcass, during proceedings? I'd like to know if my voice will be heard and if this will affect my case.
Thanks

Having been through the process numerous times I find myself back here again! My exp was violent and said to have (by a psychologist) anger issues and a blind spot in relation to danger when it comes to our child. CAFCASS were intimidated by him last time, to the point that the officer after the hearing said to me and my solicitor, " if this comes back to court in the future I am booking in for a hysterectomy!"......of course, she didnt express her concerns about him in her report. He is a loving kind father but was ultimately denied unsupervised access. Ive just learned I am headed back to court again.....and so have a new CAFCASS officer! I rang them this morning to ask if they would be reading the previous documents as their letter to me said that they would be ringing me to find out if there are any safety issues in respect of my child. They couldnt answer but asked me to send into them copies of their reports etc as background info.

They have, in my experience, always ruled in favour of my childs best interests so am not bitter but confess to having little faith in their professionalism!!!

Hi - I'm in the process of a relocation and cafcass are involved. The report advised that we remain in UK to maintain regular contact with father. Based upon this my solicitor/barrister said not to bother going to court. Has anyone successfully objected or put forward comments to change (correct) the report ? Has anyone had a cafcass report that supports their move to relocate abroad and if you did what were the points you made that were successful and got you over the line. I'm told by my sol to sit tight and try again in another year. I'm not from the UK and feel stuck here... it's soul destroying ! There was a lady on this thread from 2012 wanting to move to Canada and I'd love to hear from her. Thank you !