Child arrangements - where to go from here

[Survivingastorm]

Long story short, currently still in court proceedings but next court date isn't until mid 2021. Section 7 report has been completed which showed dc is at moderate risk to violence but this is minimised by family support on the father's side following this mother has agreed to contact as suggested by cafcass even though she still had welfare concerns after father emotionally and verbally abused their dc.

DC has been showing signs of withdrawal and extreme behaviour after contact (head butting, biting, night terrors and a regression in speech which may also be linked to a possible autism diagnosis) dc has limited vocabulary however when the father is mentioned dc will cry and scream. All of this has now been witnessed by a health visitor who has in turn also contacted the gp and they both believe it is linked to contact. Children's services has now been contacted by the HV.

I'd like to know are interim orders easy to vary given that there are professionals saying contact isn't benefitting dc ? And in the meantime does contact continue as stated in the order or can the mother act unilaterally in ensure dc is kept safe i.e. request contact be supervised ?

Is the author of the s7 report still involved? What is meant to be happening between now and the hearing in mid 2021?

Not involved no, however she will be attending the next hearing.

From now until next hearing overnights every other week. Which is what I need to have varied.

Get written support from the health visitor and ask the Court for an interim hearing

Following as in a similar situation x

You really need something in writing from the HV or GP. If you go in just on your say so, you're unlikely to get far. It might be possible to get the s7 author to take an interest, but really you need the HV to commit herself in writing. Hard to do.

Thankfully HV has said they'll support in writing and GP is going to give her support when talking to csc.

Hopefully this will be enough to get something done.

@Survivingastorm are you complying to the court order still? There is no further safe way for me to be able to facilitate supervised contact at the moment so I'm about to breach the Court order.. But my solicitor has advised me that although they can't advise on a breach... I have extremely reasonable grounds.
Bit scared. But have done absolutely everything I can to facilitate in the manner I have been and there's been an absolute breakdown.

@Pebbledashery, I haven't yet breached either, nor have I ever, but will be until I can get a court date. I am also terrified but it's either keep dc safe or stay on the right side of court. Let me know is you need some moral support.

For me having the HV and GP involved leaves me feeling like at least I have support but I'm still terrified.

@Survivingastorm when is your child's next contact session with him.. Are you going to stop until you get back to court. My solicitor said they do enforcement and variation at the same time.. I said I would facilitate contact in a contact centre but my ex is not in agreement and doesn't think he needs that level of supervision even though Cafcass know he's a violent thug...im sticking to my guns. I've tried and tried and it's no longer safe and I've put myself at risk repeatedly by facilitating contact. Hope you're OK x

@Pebbledashery should have been Christmas Eve but we are currently both self isolating until the Christmas day. But I'm not sure what I'm going to do until court to be honest, maybe day supervised contact, thing is I'm damned either way so I just need to keep dc safe. My ex is extremely charming (well at first), well spoken when he needs to be and in a good job so dc has had to really go through a lot of professionals to finally see that something is going on. Obviously I don't know what exactly I only know what he has done in the past when dc was a lot younger, hence cafcass saying moderate risk. Either way dc behaviour speaks volumes, they have stop speaking when contact started for a good 4 months wouldn't form words etc now they've not seen my ex in a month and it's crazy how many words they're saying. I had to video call the HV just so they could hear the difference and see the difference in behaviour too. But it's taken 6 months of sheer hell for both of us just to get it documented, to be honest I think it took such a mental toll on me I just didn't know what to do.

I say stick to your guns for sure, you let you dc see your ex and they'll say your concerns couldn't have been that bad as you didn't stop contact.. you stop contact and they'll say you're being obstructive.. it literally is a catch 22. But just keep on going, keep fighting for your dc as ultimately no one else will. And I know courts are there for the best interest of the child but all they can go on is what they're told and evidence which can always be spun around.