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TIPS FOR CAFCASS FIRST PHONECALL!
- Thread starter Nujra Rof
- Start date
It is either Cafcass or Social services. If social services have been involved recently then they are asked to do the section 7 and Cafcass won’t do it even if you say you’d rather they do it. From what I’ve seen, social services are even more Mum biased than Cafcass. It is better if Cafcass do it. There are some good Cafcass officers but they are in the minority I think.
If you’re both living in the same house that should protect you though - they will see there are no welfare issues because of this. The only thing they would consider a welfare issue then is “conflict between parents” which is why you don’t say anything negative about the ex (even if it’s true).
Yes - I think I was lucky to get a wise judge who could perceive the real situation rather than just read and repeat the words in the Cafcass letter. When I spoke, he peered at me intently, I assume he could see I was telling the truth. The other side didn't speak directly as she was represented by a barrister. That fact itself told it's own story.
When the barrister stated that the child didn't wish to see her father, the judge simply said: - "...but it's the wish of the court that she does, because the wishes of the resident parent and the child in this instance are irrelevant."
I'm sure he could see that there was manipulation going on, but needed just a bit more evidence, so he ordered four supervised contact sessions and then another hearing to determine the next steps based on the report from the contact centre. The report would either back up what the barrister had said or shoot it down in flames.
He also overruled the Cafcass recommendation for a Practice Direction 12J - fact finding - as that would delay contact - which he declared should start as soon as possible as it was of paramount importance for the wellbeing of the child. Instead he ordered Cafcass to do a Section 7 report which can be done alongside contact arrangements.
The bottom line is that the judge gave me the benefit of the doubt - which is what Cafcass wouldn't do because of their rigid interpretation of potential risks in allowing contact, because of what the mother had told them.
I don't know any more. Last time I went through court was pre pandemic and they automatically checked for police and social services and even school, before the safeguarding call but I think they don't do that any more at this stage. They must check with social services though as that tends to come up. But maybe they only do those checks at S7 now. Does anyone know?
They will check before they call you.
[sorry, I had replied already - please ignore]
In my own experience, the CC officer was just interested in confirming her own bias, and simply looked for things to validate the accusations. I lost my patience once with this, and she duly noted that I "exhibited signs of controlling behaviour" in her so called report. I was not prepared, and did not perform well.
However, come the Final Hearing, I successfully batted away her biased statements and the Judge decided against her recommendations - so even if it goes less than well, do not despair - some Judges out there are wise enough to see through the lies.
Good luck.
However, come the Final Hearing, I successfully batted away her biased statements and the Judge decided against her recommendations - so even if it goes less than well, do not despair - some Judges out there are wise enough to see through the lies.
Good luck.
How interesting - and good the judge saw through it!
If you don’t mind me asking, what were you going for and what was she going for eg. 50/50 vs 60/40
And I presume cafcass spoke to her first…
Oh no, how did it go, dare I ask :/
I focussed too much on the "war" that has been waged instead of thinking long term.
This is exactly what I could be facing after the next hearing with social services carrying out the section 7. Currently SS have become hesitant to put anything in writing due to subject access requests and or I use points in future conversations. My daugther confirmed in the child in need plan that the social worker had made up alot of lies. This was recorded by another social worker who supervised my visit.
This is all a lottery as I believe my CAFCASS report was ok compared to many other people.
How long did it take for the section 7 to be done after the first cafcass safeguarding call?
I am at the start of this process. I did an emergency hearing, CAFCASS safeguarding report was asked for and now completed. We are due back in court soon and advice was for local authority to complete a section 7. Judge needs to decide.
This.
Where you are in the country, the personality and biases of the CC officer, how well they slept etc.
To talk about CAFCASS as an entity - which of course they are - can take away from the fact that the interaction is with an individual and their personal standpoint.
Lottery.