Social workers providing evidence in family court

[Ihaveanidea33]

Hi all.. Does anyone know if a SW who was allocated as a result of a MARAC referral can give evidence in court towards family court proceedings? She's written a C&F assessment where she's completed blasted my ex partner..

If the social worker is still involved they would very likely be asked to write the section 7 report. If not involved now then the CAFCASS worker assigned if there were concerns about the safety of the kids would read their report and take it into account, and if necessary speak directly to get further information. I presume you are talking about custody/contact hearings?

Ours was a cafcass for s37 but yes she gave evidence in court

So both the cafcas and the sw were called

Yes for family court hearings. For contact, the SW is from the area we fled from. She assisted my DD and I in fleeing, I'm still in contact with her but we're not under her Social Care remit.. She has said contact between DD and my ExP won't be safe because he's abused her and that we have fled to a confidential location and ex P has previous convictions for stalking.. We wouldn't be safe if he knew where we lived.. She is the one who agreed all contact should be stopped after we fled.

You would have to ask her directly if she will OP but I thought you said in your last post she was providing a report but wouldn't be giving evidence in court?

@Closetbeanmuncher No, she wrote a C&F report just after I fled.. but I spoke to her on Friday and she said to give the CAFCASS officer her number and she would speak to them.. She thinks allowing contact will put us both in danger and I agree with her.

Has this report been sent to the cafcass officer, and do you have a copy of this report? If you don't have it you need that report OP.

I doubt very much that anyone from social services would attend court on your behalf but you could always ask. They prob won't want to know unless you had stayed with your ex in which case they would be all over you like a rash!

Has any of the abuse against your child been documented with the police or medically?

@Closetbeanmuncher yes, I have a copy of the report - a piece of evidence that was sent to the SW that she's regarded as child abuse was documented in the report - she's provided a transcript of the evidence as well which is available for the Court. We're not at the CAFCASS stage yet, he's requested an urgent hearing within the next 7 days (yet it's been 4 months since he's since DD!) and he's put the reasons as DD is at significant risk/harm if prevented from seeing him further because I am abusive and have mental problems! or something to that effect. I called the SW on Friday and she said she would speak to the CAFCASS appointed guardian and also the Local Authority SW, she would make it explicitly clear that contact puts us both at risk because he is unaware of where we live and he has a history of stalking which is on his criminal record... she said to me she will also say he's under investigation for child abuse. She was the one who told me to report him to the Police after she received the piece of evidence... which I did.. from what I gather from speaking to her she ABSOLUTELY DETESTS him and is completely on our side, she said that I have done absolutely every single thing I have been asked to do and more so.. and that there was not one single safeguarding issue with me.

Would it actually be worth writing to my local MP and saying I am living in fear of this man etc..
Someone from this thread has suggested it..
What influence can they have over family court proceedings?

I think asking a social worker to give evidence where she states she absolutely detests your ex could actually work against you. Because it doesn’t sound very professional and giving a personal opinion from a professional can be frowned on .
Also your MP won’t have any sway in a private family court hearing. They don’t know anything about your circumstances so wouldn’t her involved .

@fidgety31 no she hasn't actually given her opinion I just get that impression from her. She was the one who ordered us to flee. She's very blunt and straight down the line but know she is on my side.

The court will decide who gives evidence and if they want to call the SW for private proceedings (rare) they will. It's more likely they'll request written evidence from the SW or for earlier documents to be filed in the court bundle.

Having ongoing contact with that SW is something to be careful of as there's a line between a SW having an opinion and being open to accusations of colluding/bias. Not suggesting they are but the SW needs to keep strict professional boundaries re cases that are no longer open to them.

@Aroaringfire I know what you're saying, she's just been there for us that's all. The evidence that was sent to her was horrific and she said in her years of a SW that was in the top 3 worst things she's received... so I think it's more so because of that. Not him as an individual. She's never casted an opinion on him, she's just said she's dealt with many men like him before and they think they can just get what they want by throwing money at a rottweiler Solicitor, I think what it is, is that she just does not want me to me bullied by him anymore, she said to give the CAFCASS officer her number so i imagine she will be involved at some point. What she says will be necessary to our case as she was the one who assisted us in fleeing.

'she's just said she's dealt with many men like him before and they think they can just get what they want by throwing money at a rottweiler Solicitor'

This is the kind of thing I mean though. I don't doubt the evidence was significant, but imagine these kind of comments between two men about a woman who was paying for a good solicitor. It's one thing making the SW aware theres a case but don't be in the habit of talking to them directly often, as the SW could be painted by your ex as 'one of those women who think men are all the same'

It's not to say you don't have evidence, you need to ensure you don't undermine the evidence. Your solicitor will presumably be aware of social services involvement, the court have their own procedures for seeking earlier/additional evidence when there's a SS history. That's where they'll get the information from, it doesn't usually mean your previous SW will be involved now (aside from a s7/s37). Don't get involved in evidence gathering other than to highlight to your solicitor if you think there's an omission. Anything else runs the risk of the evidence being dismissed due to accusations of collusion or bias

@Aroaringfire I do get what you're saying :) and I certainly have no intention of being depicted in that way.
What I will say is that there was SS involvement from when I was pregnant, ex P attacked me when I was heavily pregnant and I told my midwife about it.. I actually told her from the onset I was in an abusive relationship and she made a contact referral to SS, there was also SS involvement from my daughters old Nursery who had a duty of care to involve them after I told them I was in an abusive relationship. So it wasn't just this particular SW I have had involvement with. I've spoken to around 4 or 5 separate SW's, it's all documented.
But yes, I certainly have no intention to be viewed as colluding with the SW and vice versa but she is firmly on my side and knows that he is a danger to her. For SS to order you to cut contact with your child's father, in my mind - things must be pretty bad for them to do that.

Regardless of which area you now live in, or which are the sw works they can be called to give evidence in a family court.

I'm honestly anxious and scared about all of this :( I know I have to be prepared and realistic... but
My DD is only 2.. she's non verbal in terms of speaking sentences, or shouting for help, or defending herself, she's vulnerable, she and I have never been separated ever, she's experienced first hand physical and psychological abuse by him, she's been subjected to witnessing and hearing her mother being physically and emotionally abused.. I've had ALL of the agencies involved, SS from where we fled, SS from where I relocated to, MARAC, Police, DV Agencies, Health Visitor and Midwife have even documented DV in the relationship and it's impact.. He's got a history of DV in all of his relationships, he's got history for breaking a restraining order with an ex partner he's got a history of stalking.. I don't know WHAT I need to produce or say in order for the Courts to realise THIS IS NOT SAFE PERSON for my DD to be around.

Ex social worker here. Family court should allocate a CAFCASS officer to do safeguarding report. You will get an opportunity to speak with CAFCASS officer at an appointment (probably telephone), this appointment aims to pick out any safeguarding issues - it is at this point that you say that the previous social worker has suggested that CAFCASS make contact so that she (previous social worker) can explain her concerns directly.

I hear you but I also know that courts will want your child to have a relationship with her dad.
Do you have a solicitor? If there's been proven domestic abuse you should be able to get one. Just ask if they do legal aid for people who are fleeing domestic abuse - there's a process of application that a solicitor can access in your case.

@strangeways19 thank you
I have a solicitor, I obtained one as soon as I fled as I needed to get an NMO which was granted ex parte immediately, I have an emergency certificate and she's applied for the legal aid for family proceedings, I don't see any reasons for it to be not approved.
I hear what you're saying, but contact can only be ordered if it's safe to do so and not if it puts DD and myself at risk. There's evidence of physical abuse towards her, not even talking about me because in the grand scheme of things I know that the abuse I was subjected to won't matter. DD was subject to a child in need plan after we left, the LA only released us from social care when we moved because DD was not in risk anymore just being with me. I have spoken to many different people, and particularly the MARAC appointed SW seems to think never in a million years will he get direct contact on the basis of the evidence she had provided by me of his abuse towards her.. she said at the very most he will get 1 hour supervised contact but even then that puts us at risk because he has convictions for stalking... he has had acquaintances pose as couriers and knocked on ex partners doors and forced his way in... he's stolen a friends car to stalk an ex partner for the purpose of getting near a child he raised with her (that wasn't his) I'm telling you, he is not fit or safe to be around DD.. even if I wasn't her mother, if I was some outsider.. I would say that!

One thing I would strongly advise is that you start to prepare your side of things for your cafcass meeting.

Your posts come across (understandably) as still being angry and resentful. When dealing with officials particularly cafcass you must let go of any feeling you have towards him and present the facts only I can't stress this enough.

You must have no opinion on him and present only facts which clearly show his inability to safely parent your child unsupervised.

Did you ever log his abuse of your child with the police? Forget the abuse of you and stalking of exs for a moment.

@Ihaveanidea33 you're responding to each post with reasons why he's unfit for contact - it's been stated several times in here the court will seek information about that, they have processes in place to do so, just that its more likely to be earlier written evidence provided, or by cafcass consulting with the previous SW for their report, rather than the old SW being called to give verbal evidence.
That doesn't weaken the evidence and you need to trust that the courts are capable of gathering evidence rather than panicking and wanting to prove it yourself. You can make your solicitor aware of what exists and if you notice any omissions but that's it.

@Closetbeanmuncher No i know this - and understand completely. I wouldn't waste that opportunity to talk to CAFCASS giving him a personal bashing, this is my opportunity to talk about his parenting and the abuse her has subjected DD to and that's why he's unsafe to be around, not because of what he's done to me. I would never give my personal views on him. Everything I have said re him and DD has been substantiated by evidence and support from all the authorities involved. He hasn't just stalked ex partners btw, he's stalked ex partners children also.

@Aroaringfire
What I want to and will say though is that surely the Courts will question the motive of a father who has waited 4 months to instruct a Solicitor to firstly bully the mother into contact whilst an active NMO is in place that has a zonal restriction of 100 meters covering DD.. and the fact he is asking for an urgent hearing because he is stating DD is at risk... 4 months on. If she truly was at risk... untold amounts of things would have happened by now?
Surely a father who truly cares about his daughter would be ringing SS constantly asking for an update, asking his solicitor to ask my solicitor for an update on her wellbeing and for photos of her, asking a police officer to come round for a welfare check. Even the fact he was invited to send a birthday card to the solicitors offices but didn't... I don't know, maybe it's just me - but I'd be doing a lot more than just chucking money at a bulldog solicitor.. doing things to actually show I cared and that I would fight for her.
He is using the Court system to further abuse me, to use DD as a control tool, to exert his control over me.. and simply if he's given contact.. he will have won and won't have to pay as much maintenance.
That is just it. Control. And Money
None of this is about DD at all.

That wasn't a criticism by the way, I commend you doing right by your daughter and getting away from the discusting piece of work.

He hasn't just stalked ex partners btw, he's stalked ex partners children also

That's utterly shocking (as if the rest wasn't bad enough). I doubt they would award any sort of contact tbh, although I know the system is flawed to say the least.