court outcomes-cafcass section 7

[drumsticklou]

I am wondering if anyone has been in a similar position to me. NRP asking for shared care and 50/50 custody of DS.

I am seeking a lives with order- DS who is 2 has always lived with me and only has short supervised contact with NPR.

NPR has a long history of alcoholism (evidence by his gp and social services reports) NPR as sole parent has been passed out from alcohol with his other young children (not our child) in the house & ambulance called on a number of occasions.

NRP has passed a 2 month hair stand test (august/september last year) , then failed 2 blood tests. passed a 28 day test months later (February this year). NPR has no support in place to help with addiction. multiple relapses leading to hospitalisation.

we are awaiting our section 7 report (which has been delayed 3 times). I am happy to support daytime access but not overnight (npr opening admits to getting intoxication to the point of being unconscious when other children are sleep- i can prove he does it while they are awake aswell).

Surely a court will not allow shared care based the history, being unconscious from alcohol around other kids, inconsistent results and no support in place.
I am terrified for DS as I know how neglected NPRs other children are when they drink.

Also NPR has only ever had supervised contact since DS was born- 2 hours at a time.

I can’t imagine shared care being recommended in the S7 report given this history. I hope your solicitor is supporting you

Try not to worry too much. I haven’t been in this exact position but spent many years going through the family court system following domestic abuse. I’m also a GP and often have patients going through family court in all sorts of circumstances. Although I do think there are serious issues remaining with how family court manages domestic abuse issues (though things do seem to be improving, albeit at a glacial pace), one thing the family courts do often seem to get right is where there are clear-cut issues with alcohol or drug addiction, particularly when we are talking about very young children. I can’t imagine any overnight care being recommended here, and in fact I think it’s likely they’d still be very cautious about moving contact on from supervised contact in the daytime as well in this sort of situation.

solicitor hasn't really said a lot other than wait for section 7. And we will do a position statement after that.
We also live in two different counties so schooling in the future is going to be impossible if it's shared care is given.
NPRs solictor is pushing constantly for more contact even though section 7 hasn't been done- iv just started ignoring the emails 🫣