advice please on family court and cafcass

hi hope someone can help,
got home today from work to a letter from cafcass saying they have been asked to do a report for the family court case i'm invlved with and that there is an hearing set for 23 september 2009, this is the first i have heard of any case.

The history is my wife walked out in april 2007 to set up home with another bloke, she left our son who was 10 at time with me, on the arrangements for children she put he would live with me and she would have contact every other saturday and during school holidays.

about 4months ago a refferal was made to social services and a social worker came to see us, she said she was happy with how i was bringing my son up, but stated she believed that is mum was emotionaly abusing him and trying to use him to get at me, she also stated she had concerns about his safety if he came into contact with her new partner as x2b had told her he has a drink problem and can be violent,.

since then x2b asked if son could sleep at their flat one night but i refused saying i was concerned for his safety after social worker visit, x2b said it was not social it was me been nasty, during in past 2 year i have not stopped son seeing his mum evan on extra saturdays, also i bought him a mobile so their can talk on phone in private and not in main room where i am , its set up so he can ring without worrying about his credit.

my question is has anybody any idea what is likely to happen.


thanks mark

Gosh, this seems to be an never ending saga. What does your son want?

CAFCASS can be involved in mediation and reports will typically cover background information about the family's circumstances and the aspirations of individual family members. The Court Welfare Officer gathers background information from the children's school and the social work department when there has been any involvement with them. Also the child protection register is checked, as is the National Probation Service to see if either party is known to them. Interviews with parents and child may be at Cafcass' offices and/or home visits. Part of the report will document what each party and the children said.

The information gathered is then checked against the welfare checklist;

(a)the ascertainable wishes and feelings of the child concerned (considered in the light of his age and understanding);

(b)his physical, emotional and educational needs;

(c)the likely effect on him of any change in his circumstances;

(d)his age, sex, background and any characteristics of his which the court considers relevant;

(e)any harm which he has suffered or is at risk of suffering;

(f)how capable each of his parents, and any other person in relation to whom the court considers the question to be relevant, is of meeting his needs;

(g)the range of powers available to the court under this Act [Children Act 1989] in the proceedings in question.

The report concludes with the Cafcass recommendations.

Hope that helps.

Any idea who/why a referral was made to social services?

I think its very important for you to understand how this works. I suggest you attend a meeting of your local 'Families need Fathers' group, they are well experienced in this area.

Look up www.fnf.org. If you are in London, attend the Central London branch meeting on tuesdays at 8pm, near chancery lane.

Mark, It might be an idea to phone the court tomorrow to see if they can shine any light on an application. Perhaps the Mother hasn't been very quick serving you with the papers.

thanks for your replys.

phoned cafcass today and was told the letter i recieved was sent to early, they have not got the court papers yet but was informed a case was coming up, the officer said she would be in touch in a couple of weeks to arrange meetings with me and my son, also phoned my solicitor who said because my son has lived with me for last 28 months that court would be reluctant to change this and his mum would have to prove me incapable of looking after him.


as for my son he wants to live with me but still wants some contact with his mum.

as i understand it the school made the referral to social services because they had concerns about his mums new partner, because my son had told them about his drinking and violence and that his mum had taken him to they flat and got him to hide it from me.


thanks mark

Is it an application for residence or contact? I remember you saying your son didn't want to go to the flat before because he was concerned about the new partner and if that is still the case I can't see the court ruling against his wishes, particularly with the recent involvement of social services and your son now being about 12.

hi fiona

do not know what she has applied for i have only got the cafcass letter saying there have been asked to do a report, rung my solicitor and he has not recieved any papers so rung cafcass and all they knew was that their have been asked to do a reort but have not seen court papers yet.

my son still wants to live with me and have contact with his mum but not her new partner as when he went out with her on mothers day her partner was there and he kicked off scaring my son.