Adults Leaflet

8/4/2019 Adults Leaflet

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Everything you need to know


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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.

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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.

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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.

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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).

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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?

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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:

Documents

Adults Leaflet