CAFCASS what should I expect?

Hi everyone,

I'm a newbie so bear with me!
I'll try to keep my background info as short as possible....
In August my youngest daughter's dad took her up north to stay with his family and refused to bring her back. I went to court on 28th August and he was ordered to return her to me on 31st August. I was granted a temporary residence order pending a CAFCASS report. It's been 2 weeks and I have not heard from CAFCASS yet. I have looked online and know what the report is, but can someone please explain what I should expect. I know they will talk to me and my children but what happens first? Will they just turn up at my door one day or call first? Will they talk to me before the children or meet all of us together first?
Sorry if I'm rambling on I just really don't know what will happen.

Thanks in advance,
Kirsty.

Hi Kirsty,
I'm assuming that the judge has ordered a section7 report.
CAFCASS are usually expected to have the report completed within 16 weeks but due to their workload they rarely do.
They will usually start by interviewing you and the children at thier offices and then interviewing your ex with the children at the offices.
They will talk to the kids to get thier opinions on things.
They may also attend your home and your ex's home during contact sessions if contact is ongoing.

A word of warning here,
Do not get on the wrong side of these people, the outcome of your case will surely rest on the contents of thier report and reccommendations.
Personally I found them good,quite fair and child focussed.

2 weeks isn't long - my report was ordered on 1st April and they didn't get in contact until mid-July. Don't hold your breath!

In my case, they wanted to see me first in their offices - the officer had a set list of questions which she asked me and made notes on - talked about the facts of hte marriage, reasons for divorce, who was divorcing who, details of the children, issues as I saw them, whehter the children had seen any violence or arguments, how we as parents communicate, etc. etc. Obviously, we talked around the questions and she asked additional questions based on what I was saying.

I then expected a home visit but this hasn't happened - it would seem because she has been unable to have any kind of meeting or conversation with my stbx who made this residence application in the first place! I assume at some point, they will visit us. There is an expectation that they talk to the children alone.

My report was due 29th July, shifted to today 15th September and I still don't have it. It can be a long haul, unfortunately.

Hope that helps.

Hi, thanks for your quick replies.

The judge said he wanted the report done by 4th December and wanted us back in court on the 9th, I won't hold my breath on that then!

My ex claimed that he kept my daughter there because he was concerned that I was not looking after her properly, he basically turned up at court with nothing but hand written notes about his concerns which were all either lies or extremely exagerated truth. I have had a visit from social services already but they didn't seem concerned and I haven't heard from them since (that was almost 2 weeks ago).

I am really worried about the report but hopefully they won't be judging me, just finding out what is best for my daughter.

kirsty26 wrote:

I am really worried about the report but hopefully they won't be judging me, just finding out what is best for my daughter.

If you have done nothing wrong then you shouldn't be worrying.
Yes, they will be judging you, your ex, and the whole situation regarding the children.
If something has happened then the chances are that they will find out.
Most CAFCASS officers have previously been Social workers.
They are known as "the eyes and ears of the family courts" and they are usually very switched on.

I expect a good portion of Social Services work is dealing with ex-partners reporting each other! They are used to it, have to follow it up but I expect the get a feel for when there is a genuine problem. Worth remembering that you have to do an awful lot to have a child taken from you (think of all those children who are seriously abused whilst on Social Services's radar and you realise what you're dealing with). Try not to worry.

CAFCASS will be looking at quite a broad picture - they will request a report from school, for example. They may talk to your GP, Health Visitor or other professional invovled with your family (they have not been near my GP or HV as yet - HV said it rarely happens and is related to 'specific' concerns - she wouldn't tell me what!). They will check you out with the Police, and Probation. And yes, they should be focused on the children and not on you - remember that when you're talking to them and keep coming back to it.

I haven't done anything wrong I'm just worried that they will be looking for faults and pick holes in everything I say and do.

My intend to be totally honest with them, I have nothing to hide. I have never been in trouble with the police or anything like that. He has a police record and was arrested for child neglect so I assume they will look into that.

I know the school have no concerns and my daughter is doing very well and is settled there.

As far as I can tell it should be fine and CAFCASS will see that there is no valid reason to move her, I'm sure I am just worrying too much but I never expected to suddenly be asked to prove to complete strangers that I am capable of looking after my children!