cafcass?? what are your experiences?

[ukgirl23]

I just had my first telephone interview with cafcass and they were so nasty! I am a former victim of abuse and had to move away from him to protect the children and this lady i spoke to told me i just done it to erase him from the kids lives when ive sent him endless pictures.. invitations to visit and updates on milestones but he only came to visit 4 times in 4 years.. yet im the bad one!! I just wondered what other mums oppinions were? How were the reports you got? Xxxx

 

[xxsteffyxx]

I've been refered through to cafcass too as I am victim of domestic violence too. To be cafcass have been wonderful and very supportive, helping me to organize safe contact with harvey and his dad. They have been refering me through companies to help me with debt, money, work and housing issues I have had.

So yeah... They have been great with me.
- I would complain if I were you hun! Cafcass are there to support you, not victimise you

Xx

 

[ukgirl23]

my ex husband has not bothered with our kids for 4 years and now he wants to take them to his country without me and the kids dont really know who he is.. I said he can see them in a contact center but he wont accept that and now Im terrified that they'll have to go with him... he is only doing it to hurt me, he uses the children to punish me when I've gone against him and the last time he came here he tried to get me back and have sex with me and I rejected him and as soon as he got to his own country he started the whole court thing... now I'm so scared for the safety of my children but I dont feel like they heard me.

 

[Jinty]

No experience but i would definitely complain! That sounds horrible i would be so angry. She should be sacked!

 

[ukgirl23]

she was terrible, I burst into tears after hanging up, my partner was so worried about me he took the evening off work :/ I am just waiting for their report now so I can gather evidence against them if I need to. x

 

[angelpkj]

100% complain
cafcass shouldnt really appear to take a side with someone

 

[ukgirl23]

well I got my report in the post today and it was actually really good! I was so surprised! I was so sure I was going to get a bad report. She wrote that the children shouldnt go to norway and are looking at ordering a risk assessment under 16A to assess my ex... I feel so much better... I can not believe the outcome after how horrible she was to me!!

 

[angelpkj]

thats really good then

maybe she was just being horrible to test you to see how u reacted??

i've not got a report or anything back from cafcass??they just said they will see me in court ?? have u had one hearing already

 

[ukgirl23]

no our first hearing is tomorrow we have cafcass interviews for the first hour then a 15 minute hearing.. I'm a little nervous!! when is your hearing? x

 

[xxsteffyxx]

In regards to the child abduction thing you should speak to your health visitor as child abduction is a very serious threat to make. Do your children have passports? If they do already that is great, if they don't then get onto your HV or solitor as you can get their names flagged up with the UK passport control so he can never get hold of their passports.

It's what I have had to do because Harvey doesn't have a passport at the moment and his dad was making threats to take him away.

 

[ukgirl23]

My kids dont have a health visitor hun they are 3 and 5... 4&6 next month... i have told my solicitor about it all and kept a diary for the whole time we were living in norway and when we came back to live in england so that is going to help i have loads of evidence... just want court to come and be over with xx

 

[angelpkj]

no our first hearing is tomorrow we have cafcass interviews for the first hour then a 15 minute hearing.. I'm a little nervous!! when is your hearing? x

hmm i have my 1st hearing on 2nd may but god knows about cafcass from what iv gathered they just seem to of had a phone intereveiw with me and thats that
no report no mention of it at court etc so im a little lost

 

[ukgirl23]

I got the phone call from CAFCASS then the report from them about 2 days before we went to court... they were so horrible on the phone but the report was good.. in person the lady I had was lovely... the case I have right now is very hard to deal with and CAFCASS dont seem to be much help in all honesty they just seem to be pushing for a fast settlement. I met another lady in court who was having to talk to CAFCASS too and she and I both came out in tears lol.. I wish you luck in your case hun its a very difficult thing to go through I'm here if you need to talk x

 

[angelpkj]

hmm our original court date was 18th april and i never got a report in the end it was me who rang cafcass to let them know court was being last minute ajourned :S

where in UK you from x

 

[ukgirl23]

I'm from Dorset.. we are due back in court in August... I hate all this... where in the UK are you? xx

 

[angelpkj]

manchester
what happened at the first hearing and what happens at the 2nd?

 

[ukgirl23]

in our first hearing we went into a waiting room and then had a few cafcass interviews then when we had reached a conclusion we went into the hearing room and the judge ruled. We were only in with the judge for about ten mins... our second 1 is in august I'm not sure what might happen there but I hate it... Cafcass are 2 faced... they pretend to be on your side when really they're not x

 

[angelpkj]

did you get told about cafcass interveiws or did it just happen on the day

ive not been told anythin like that off cafcass

what did the judge say

cafcass have to stay mutual really tho-they think its best for a child to have a dad no matter what but that have to show compassion to your situation aswel

 

[ukgirl23]

I got told in the original court letter that I would have a telephone CAFCASS interview and my solicitor told me about additional CAFCASS appointments on the day... my situation is very difficult to explain and a 15 minute interview isn't enough to put across the risks to my children properly with the additional issue of them questioning you like a criminal lol... I found that their way of questioning imtimidated me and because of it I backed down into a decision I wouldn't have liked preferably. Yes CAFCASS have to be mutual and they are really but they also have to be on the side of the children and while in my case it is best for my children to know their father I do not think it is okay for him to walk into their lifes after 4 years of minimal to no contact and demand to take them out of the country where they live for 3 weeks of the summer, every half term and every other christmas and easter holiday. There is a whole set of risk factors to consider and I dont think they took me seriously despite me having evidence of police alarms and child protection statements from Norway x