-
8/4/2019 Adults Leaflet
1/12
Everything you need to know
-
8/4/2019 Adults Leaflet
2/12
About CafcassWe work with children and familieswho are involved
in family court cases.
We only work in England and are a non-departmental public
body accountable to the Secretary o State or Children,
Schools
and Families. We operate within the law made by Parliament
and under the rules governing the amily courts in England.
We work with
families when:* separated parents cannot
agree on arrangements
or their children and one
o them has made an
application to court.
* a local authority hasapplied to court to take
a child into care.
* a child is placed or adoption.
Our most important
roles are to:* keep children sae.* give inormation, advice
and support to children
and their amilies.
* help the amily courts makethe best possible decisions
about children.
2
-
8/4/2019 Adults Leaflet
3/12
What is
Cafcass Role?Our most important role isto make sure that the
children
and young people we work
with are kept sae and that
they are put rst in amily
court cases. Our workers
(sometimes called Family Court
Advisers FCAs) representchildren in court and advise
the courts on what they
consider to be in childrens
best interests. The cour t will
always consider what the
Cacass worker and others
in the case have said. However,
when making a decision, thecourt will not always do
what the Cacass worker
has recommended.
Our FCAs are registered
as social workers with the
General Social Care Council
and are experienced in working
with children and amilies
at dicult times in their
lives. They are independent
o all other agencies suchas the courts and local
authority childrens services.
Your Cacass worker will be
able to answer any questions
you may have and will also be
able to assist you i you need
extra help in the orm o an
interpreter or need to haveinormation translated.
3
-
8/4/2019 Adults Leaflet
4/12
In some cases our work with
amilies will be brie and willonly take place at the start o
the court case. In other cases
we may, i the court asks,
be more heavily involved.
Read on to nd out more
about our work in dierent
kinds o cases.
Keeping children safeAs part o our duty to help keep children
sae, inmany cases we will check with other organisations,such as
the police or the local authority childrensservices, to see i they
have any relevant inormationabout childrens saety and welare.
4
-
8/4/2019 Adults Leaflet
5/12
In these cases we will try tohelp parents come to a sae
agreement that puts their
children rst. However, going
to court is not the only option
and the court may recommend
that you take part in the
ollowing activities instead.
Separated ParentsInformation Programmes
These courses help parents
to become more aware o
the eect that their separation,
and any continuing confict,
may have on their children.
They oten help parents to
work out agreements withoutneeding more court hearings.
Snapshot on contact
and residence casesWhen parents split up or do not live
together,it can sometimes be dicult or them to agreeon arrangements
or their children, such aswhere their children live (residence)
andwho they see (contact).
5
-
8/4/2019 Adults Leaflet
6/12
I you cannot reach a saeagreement about your children,
the court will decide the
outcome o your case. At the
rst court hearing, the court
might ask a Cacass worker
to talk to you both about your
amily, meet with your children
and prepare a report or
the court. The report will be
based on the Cacass workers
assessment o what is best
or your children. Beore thecourt makes a decision, it will
read the Cacass report and
listen to what you and other
people in the case have said.
The court will pay particular
attention to the childs wishes
and eelings but will make
a decision based on what
is thought to be best
or your children.
Please read our factsheet, Putting your childrenfirst for more
information.
Mediation
This involves meeting with a specially trained person to
help you and your ex-partner move towards an agreement.
Mediation can be less stressul than court proceedings
because
it helps to reduce confict, is less expensive and is based
on
parents reaching a sae agreement about their children
together.
6
-
8/4/2019 Adults Leaflet
7/12
Snapshot on care proceedingsI a local authority is worried about
your childrens
welare, they may apply to court to take yourchildren into care.
Children are only taken intocare i the court believes that they are
suering,or are likely to suer, signicant harm as a resulto the way
they are being looked ater, or i thechild is beyond the parents
control.
In these cases our role is to
look careully at the local
authoritys work and its uture
care plan or your children.
We also advise the cour t on
what we think should happen,
based on our assessment o
your case. The Cacass worker
will talk to you and, depending
on their age, to your children
as well. Sometimes they will
also talk to other members o
your amily and people such as
teachers and health workers.
They will then write a report
or the court, explaining what
they think is best or your
children. The court will read
this beore making its decision.
The court has to pay particular
attention to your childrens
wishes and eelings but will
make a decision based on
what it thinks is best or
your children.
Please read our factsheet,Keeping children safefor more
information.
7
-
8/4/2019 Adults Leaflet
8/12
Snapshot on adoptionAdoption is the legal step that
permanentlytakes away parental responsibility roma childs birth
parents and givesit to one or more adoptive parents.
There are several dierent kinds o adoption
cases in which we are involved. These include:
*when parents decide it may be best i their child is
adopted.
*when a local authority is concerned about the welareo a child
and supports a plan o adoption or that child.
*when the child lives in a step-amily and the step-parentwants
to adopt their partners child.
In cases where parents agree
to the adoption, our role is to
make sure that the parents ully
understand what it means orthem and their child and to
check that they really do agree
to the adoption. In cases where
one or both o the parents do
not agree to the adoption, our
role is to represent the child
and to advise
the court onwhether the
adoption is
in the childs
best interests.
Please read our factsheet, Making
a new start for more information.
8
-
8/4/2019 Adults Leaflet
9/12
ConfidentialityI you meet with a Cacass
worker, they may include any
inormation you give them in
their report to court, i they have
been asked to produce one.
We may also have to pass on
inormation about you or your
children to other people, such asthe police or a local
authority, i
we have any worries about your
childrens saety or welare.
The pressSince April 2009, journalists
have been allowed to go
to amily court hearings.However, they need the courts
permission beore they can
report anything rom the case
and they are not allowed to
report details o any case that
would lead to you or your
amily being identied. It is
unlikely that journalists will goto any o your court
hearings.
However, i they do and you
eel there are good reasons
why they should not be allowed
to be there, you should let thecourt know.
ContactPointContactPoint is a national
computer system that will help
to keep children and young
people sae by allowing the
proessionals who work with
them to share inormation. From
2009, ContactPoint will list the
names and contact details or:
* all children in Englandup to the age o 18.
*their parents and carers.
* proessionals and servicesworking with a child.
Other things you should know
9
-
8/4/2019 Adults Leaflet
10/12
We are committed to providing you with anexcellent service and
to treating everyone airly.
Our customer-care standards our promise to you
We have created our customer-
care standards that explain
your rights and how you can
expect to be treated by us. You
can nd our standards on our
website at www.cacass.gov.uk/
about_cacass/customer_care_
standards.aspx
To make sure that we treat
everyone airly, we may ask you
some questions about issues
such as your ethnic origin,
religion and sexuality. This
inormation will help us to
make sure we consider all
aspects o your amilys needsin our work with you. It will
also allow us to monitor how
well we are supporting all parts
o the community.
10
-
8/4/2019 Adults Leaflet
11/12
Compliments, comments,concerns and complaintsI you would like to
make a compliment, commentor complaint about our work, you can do
so bytalking to your Cacass worker or, i you preer, totheir Service
Manager at your local Cacass oce.
You can also email us at: [email protected] or write to
us
at: Feedback, Cacass, 6 Mendip House, High Street, Taunton, TA1
3SX.
You can make a complaint to
us i you are unhappy with thebehaviour o our sta. You can
also make a complaint i you
believe we have made any
actual errors in our report to
court wherever possible we
will put these right. I you are
unhappy with the report, it is
important that you, or yoursolicitor (i you have one)
let the court know about
your concerns.
You cannotmake a
complaint to us i
you are unhappy with the
courts decisions. Instead, youwill need to consider, perhaps
with legal advice, whether to
appeal against any decisions.
To nd out more,
please ask or a copy
o our concerns and
complaints actsheet.
What do we mean by a concern or complaint?
11
-
8/4/2019 Adults Leaflet
12/12
Cafcass , 6th Floor, Sanctuary Buildings, Great Smith
Street,London, SW1P 3BT | T. 0844 353 3350 | www.cafcass.gov.uk
Cafcass. Published March 2010 ISBN 9789999101202
MyCacass is a secure, personalised websitewhere you can fnd out
more about Cacass
and the amily courts.You can log in at https://my.cacass.gov.uk
by entering your
username and password. I you do not have your login
details, please ask your Cacass worker.
By logging on you can: Find out what happens at dierent stages o
a case.
Complete a sel-assessment.
Pick up helpul hints rom other people who have been
in a similar position to you by watching video clips.
Use HearNow, our online eedback tool.
View your online Cacass calendar.
You can also fnd out more about Cacass and the amily
court system by going to our website www.cacass.gov.uk.
Ask your Cafcass worker for your logon details:Username:
Password:
