Help - Cafcass report

[Herewegoagain19891]

So a bit of a long story, currently seeking a cao for my 18month old dd.. father has a history of domestic abuse against myself and our dd. This abuse I have evidence of and last time we were in court exp said the incidents I had listed did happened but that I had dramatised it all. Because no safeguarding checks had been completed no order could be made however I did agree to supervised contact At a contact centre, exp dragged his feet and before we even got to a contact centre the covid lockdown happened. Cafcass submitted a report without talking to ex or myself and said an s7 report should be completed and also suggested a fact finding hearing.

Last week I receive a letter from the courts saying there would be a hearing on the papers today, basically no one could be present he was just reviewing the case.. fine. Today I had someone from Cafcass call to say the judge had asked her to call, again no problem, spoke about our history, mentioned him attempting the allegations and my wish for contact to be supervised until exp went on an anger management course and also until dd was slightly older. Then I received an email from the Cafcass officer to myself and exp saying that she had advised the judge that contact should take place with an independent social worker present as she feels some supervised contact is need to confirm whether there is any substance to my allegations and she feels that a report from an isw would be enough evidence for the case the progress safely forwards.

I have no problem with a isw observing contact and reporting, in fact I encourage it, but I don’t understand how a report from an individual proves or disproves my allegations especially when no one has looked over my evidence and exp has confirmed the incidents have happened. I’m now worried they’re trying to push for unsupervised contact without looking properly at the evidence I have, not even a section 7 report as they have said they can’t complete one at the moment. Will I have the opportunity to voice my concerns before unsupervised contact is order? As I’m concerned all of this is being discussed and I have yet to be able to speak with a judge.

Has the cafcas officer interviewed you yet?

@snackarella the Cafcass officer called me and asked a few questions about whether there as drug abuse, ask me to go over the abuse etc but told me that a s7 couldn’t take place at the moment and that she was just looking at getting interim arrangements made during the covid 19 pandemic.

So not sure if you could call it an interview, I wasn’t even aware that they would be calling me at all

Hi where are you based?

Right - sounds very difficult with the social distancing.
We were interviewed and a section 7 was ordered. It was all quite badly done to be honest.
Now we are at court the cafcas officer has been in touch again following the report nearly a year ago.
I'd imagine they will make an interim order until they can do a section 7 but I doubt they will allow unsupervised contact. How old are you children?

@snackarella, my dd is 18 months. In a previously report they said an s7 was needed, now they’re saying an s7 cannot be done at the moment because of limitations from covid 19 and where they’re now doing these interviews via Skype it wouldn’t be suitable given dds young age. She goes on the say an isw report would be enough to prove if my allegations have substance and to move the case safely forwards, while it doesn’t say unsupervised access I’m reading it as that as I have no way of finding out if it is that case as it was only the Cafcass officer I spoke to. Effectively it was only the officer who spoke in court yesterday. I also agree with social distancing it will be difficult especially as I, along with my DM whom I live with, are high risk. But again no one to communicate this to as I did with the Cafcass officer but she hasn’t included this.

@quarantineishard we are based in Berkshire.

It sounds like they suggesting the independent social worker as an alternative to the section 7 so they can put an interim order in place. The aim of the section 7 is to look at safeguarding issues so hopefully the isw would evaluate him as part of observing the contact.

I'd try not to interpret the reports as they are very hard to decipher. I remember having a very different interpretation of the report to my lawyer, incidentally lawyer was spot on.

Also, any discussion with Cafcass ''counts'' whether an official interview or not. They called me randomly many times...

@Pinkyxx, that’s what I think the isw as a sub to a s7, which I don’t have an issue with however I do have an issue with the Cafcass officer saying the report would be enough evidence to prove if my allegations have substance. How can an observation made determine something that someone says happened. To me it’s like observing an accused murder and if they don’t kill anyone while under observation they must be innocent 🤷🏽‍♀️.

I knew it was an official call but I just wasn’t prepared with things like dates, crime references number etc.. because I wasn’t expecting the call, the day before ex solicitor emailed me to say paper hearing wouldn’t take place and being in lockdown I had an 18 month old to look after. On the other hand my ex was alone could probably spin some lies and do him charm act. I think I just have an issue with not actually being able to speak to a judge directly to dispute anything. Even now I still have no idea what the Cafcass officer said to the judge just what she told exp and I she had said. So I still have no sight of exactly what has happened. Annoyingly on the phone she was so sympathetic couldn’t believe exp behaviour and said it wasn’t normal... then to hear her say about a report would be enough. On top of that advising exp on who can help him find and isw.

So I’ve started seeking legal advice, found out yesterday that I am entitled to legal aid, I thought because I had left the DV wouldn’t help me. Also going to contact children’s services today, they weren’t getting involved as they felt if court has issued supervised contact this would obviously safeguard dd.

I was so deflated after reading the Cafcass officers email, felt like she was biased to exp, but all I can do is get my voice heard and protect dd. A friend did say perhaps exp was agressive on the phone to Cafcass and they feel a couple of observations by an isw can prove this. How likely is that?

Hi op sorry your having to go through this. He will most likely be fake during the observations. Most men would put on the nice act. This is why I don't understand why they think this kind of thing is suitable to determine whether he is safe to be around. All you can do is stick to your guns about him and try not to agree with what they say so easily or they will think they can push you around but watch your wording. Don't slate him just explain what he has done and why it isn't in the best interests of your child to be unsupervised with him

Rollonnext year) Not 2mostmen" most people. But the sW should be well aware of observer effect. I agree, even if he come across as the perfect father, it doesn,t mean what you said is wrong. But they have to assess somehow.

@june2007 you sometimes get that odd case you read where someone has acted perfect and got awarded unsupervised contact fairly easily after a few sessions in a contact centre when that's not truly their character. But your right most observers will be aware of that.

@rollonnextyear0, this is my fear and of course I’ve went back to old mumsnet threads on these cases. Fills me with fear, anxiety, I’ve felt I’ll all day I’m sure it’s from stress.

@june2007 agreed most people will. And also that they have to assess somehow, thing is I don’t have a problem with the assessment itself it’s the Cafcass officer saying this assessment is all that is needed to prove if my allegations have substance, and she uses exactly those words. Immediately I just thought ok so if he gets a glowing observation report the courts will automatically think I’m lying and as I’ve read the will almost always go with Cafcass poor dd will be left with someone who has scared her, shouted at her and called her a p*ki, lost his temper more times then I care to remember, thinking about it now is making me feel sick.

@Herewegoagain19891 have faith in your caffcass worker, I r as some awful stories on here when my case started a year ago but caffcass has seen through him and more importantly picked up on the lack of consistency on each communication she has with him and now it is indirect contact recommendations from caffcass, has he got any police involvement in his past?

@Marley040783 I am trying to remain hopeful, while on the phone she really seemed to understand at one point I said I thought it could just be that dd is exp first child and while she is also my first child I’ve grown up around children as I have a large family. She then said let me assure you none of these things are normal for a first time parent, probably the other reason. Why I was shocked. But I didn’t slag off ex just said what he had done.

But in answer no police involvement in his past, just the harassment report I made however I didn’t pursue charges as I felt tremendously guilty at the thought. They did pass it onto social services though because of the abuse against dd which I also disclosed.

Where there any other incidents which perhaps you didn’t report to the police? did social services take any action after the police report?

No, within the report I also done a historic report of all the incidents I had recorded and had proof of I.e. exp admitting to incidents. But these incidents he also admitted to in court except said I dramatised it all, which I’m now going to get the transcript for that hearing.

When I spoke to social services because I had already left exp and there was no contact that I was already doing everything to safeguard dd and basically to contact them again should the courts order unsupervised contact. The police basically wanted social to run a risk assessment on dd as they felt she’d be at risk if left with exp.

Sorry I was meant to say there were other incidents that I didn’t report as I had no proof they happened, just my word against his.

Did your ex ever have your daughter alone/unsupervised at any point after you split up. x

Makes sense & means you have options if the court / Cafcass order unsupervised. Social services input was given more weight in our case. Also if SS feel your DD is at risk they have the option to trigger proceedings too. Did they tell you when the next hearing would be ?

@rollonnextyear0, no he hasn’t. He once took her for a walk in town while I had minor surgery for just over an hour. She was in tears when they returned and he was losing his temper, turns out she was hungry which I told exp she would be had left him with her lunch but he didn’t give it to her and then got aggressive when she stopped for me (only because I gave her food). Apart from that it’s always been with myself, a family member or his parents present. I’ve already included this in each of my position statements.

@Pinkyxx just realised how poorly my paragraph was written but I think you got it. SS happy and confident that I’m safeguarding dd and had said everything I’m doing is what they would suggest and do. So come tomorrow I may call SS back but seen as the courts and Cafcass have not yet said unsupervised I’m not sure they can help, also got back in contact with women’s aid. No they haven’t said when the next hearing would be, I’m still yet to see exactly what the judge has ordered, all I have right now is what the Cafcass officer said she told the judge and his responses.

It’s all very confusing though, along with the above the day before this paper hearing exp solicitor contacted the courts to say she wanted a phone hearing to take place instead of a paper hearing, courts basically said no this is the process and his lawyer challenged this. Long story short this was passed onto the judge who said he will schedule in a phone hearing at the next available date seen as exp lawyers wanted this. From this response exp lawyer assumed paper hearing wouldn’t take place and informed me, hence why Cafcass call threw me off. So it’s also a case of is this phone hearing happening, and if it isn’t happening obviously the judge just said it to appease his lawyer and really just leaves me in a confusing position with all this he said, she said.

You've got a good case then and done the right thing by never again leaving them alone. Oh and he sounds horrible. I'm sure the courts will see through him.

SS will be looking for whether you are safeguarding your DD, and by the sounds of it they are satisfied you are. If I were you I'd go with the flow of the court process and if they decide to order unsupervised contact you then go back to SS. If they have concerns they will act on them and have a different remit to the courts - who are looking to resolve the matter of contact.

In terms of if the hearings happening or not, maybe call the court? They should be able to tell you one way or the other if something is scheduled. If you are going to get legal aid, I'd strongly recommend getting a lawyer and choosing one who is a children's panel lawyer. They have the experience to manage these kind of cases. Mine was a godsend.

@rollonnextyear0 @Pinkyxxhe is a nasty piece of work but puts on a fairly good act. I say fairly good because it can seem forced.

So I’ve seen the draft order, they’re saying a report after 3 sessions with recommendations on future contact. I’m completely baffled not even had a chance to submit evidence and they think 3 sessions of 1 hour will be enough to progress towards a final outcome. Significant evidence is what they said they can get from the sessions . They have said we also need to agree on the identity of the isw if not we will have another hearing. On top of all of this exp video called dd today and asked what size nappy she wears, no doubt once contact starts he will arrive with some nappies acting like the dutiful dad even though he has done very little for her and went 2 months without even checking she was ok. Even when we went into lockdown not a word.

@Herewegoagain19891 I imagine you’ll have the chance to submit evidence after these sessions. After our section 7 the court made a residence order in my favour (ex had taken me to court to get residence changed to him). At the same time court ordered both parties to propose contact arrangements. At the next hearing they made a contact order. You’ll get a chance I’m sure