How to prepare for CAFCASS
A CAFCASS report is highly influential in children's law proceedings, as a judge will generally follow a CAFCASS officer's recommendations unless there is a compelling reason not to do so.
In this article, our Family Law Solicitors explain how to best prepare for a CAFCASS interview and report.
The role of CAFCASS in children's law proceedings
CAFCASS prepares reports to help judges in children's law proceedings. CAFCASS is an independent organisation, separate from the family court, the judge hearing the children's court proceedings, the local authority, and the social services department.
A judge may order a CAFCASS report in a variety of children's law applications, including:
- Child arrangement order applications.
- Prohibited steps order applications.
- Specific issue order applications.
- Holiday and relocation order applications.
- Special guardianship order applications.
The CAFCASS report
After completing a safeguarding letter, CAFCASS won't have any further role in the court proceedings unless the judge orders a report. Either or both parents may want CAFCASS to prepare a report, but ultimately, it is the judge’s decision after hearing representations from both parents' family law solicitors.
Arguing for a CAFCASS report
A Family Lawyer will advise on whether it is in your best interests to agree to or object to a full CAFCASS report. A report may be necessary, but you may have concerns about the timescale and its impact on your ability to see your children. Our Family Law Solicitors may be able to argue that the court orders an interim CAFCASS report on the issue of temporary contact until the final hearing of the child arrangement order application and list a contested interim hearing.
If the court orders a CAFCASS report at the ‘First Hearing Dispute Resolution Appointment’ (abbreviated to FHDRA), it will timetable a date for the report to be filed at court. It will also list another hearing after the report is available to see if an agreement can be reached. If that’s not possible, the court will list the application for a final hearing where the parents and possibly the CAFCASS officer will give evidence and be cross-examined.
How to prepare for a CAFCASS interview
CAFCASS officers conduct interviews with parents and children as part of their report preparation. It is easy for parents to become defensive when a stranger asks personal questions, especially those about their relationship with their child.
Here are our Family Law Solicitors' tips on preparing for CAFCASS in court proceedings:
- Plan for the meeting.
- Give child-focused replies to questions.
- Try to be forward-thinking.
- Don’t get angry if you are told something you disagree with.
- If your ex did some things right, then acknowledge it. If you did things wrong, then acknowledge it.
Why is it essential to prepare for CAFCASS?
Until you are involved in court proceedings, your parenting probably will not have been questioned by a professional. A CAFCASS officer is tasked with preparing a report on what orders are in your child’s best interests, and their report preparation will invariably involve some difficult questions.
Planning for a CAFCASS meeting
It’s best to plan for your meeting so you know where the meeting is and what you want to say, but without being over-scripted, as CAFCASS may wish to talk about other issues. For example, if an ex-partner has made an allegation, such as an allegation of domestic violence or said you have a narcissistic personality disorder. Whatever the allegations, it's best to respond calmly and to acknowledge if there were some positive aspects of the other parent’s parenting.
Focusing on your children
It's vital to remember when answering questions that you should respond in a child-focused way. You may want weekly contact and can explain why you want it, but you need to focus your replies on what your child will gain from weekly contact. That may be something as simple as your child’s excitement that you have been able to take them to a park to kick a football around, or the importance of your being able to read them a bedtime story, or try to help with a teenager’s exam or body image anxieties.
Focusing on your child helps show that you understand your child’s needs and feelings. That isn’t just your understanding of the need to give your child their tea or to have a bedtime routine, but showing you understand how your child was affected by the separation or is still affected by contact handovers or moving between different households with varying routines and rules.
Looking to the future
Whilst it is tempting to focus on your ex-partner’s failings as a parent or their behaviour during the relationship, try to look forward. Although you may be tempted to examine in detail who did what leading to the marriage breakdown and the current childcare arrangements, CAFCASS will look forward and not want to investigate parental conduct unless it is relevant to a parent’s capacity to meet their child’s physical and emotional needs.
How will CAFCASS make a recommendation?
When writing their report, CAFCASS must consider a statutory ‘welfare checklist’ to make sure that they have addressed all matters that may affect what the court concludes is in a child’s best interests. The law says that when making any decisions concerning a child, the welfare of the child shall be the paramount consideration, but the welfare checklist entails CAFCASS (and the judge at the final hearing) looking at:
- The ascertainable wishes and feelings of the child concerned. These are examined in light of the child’s age and understanding.
- The child’s physical, emotional and educational needs.
- The likely effect on the child of any change in circumstances.
- The child’s age, sex, background and any characteristics of relevance.
- Any harm which the child has suffered or is at risk of suffering.
- How capable each parent is, and any other person about whom the court considers the question to be relevant, is of meeting the child’s needs.
- The range of powers available to the court.
Once the CAFCASS report is completed, it will be sent to the court, and you should receive a copy before the final hearing. Although the CAFCASS report is highly influential with the judge, the court isn’t bound to follow the recommendations in the CAFCASS report; however, the judge must carefully explain why they disagree with the recommendations.
Frequently Asked Questions on CAFCASS Reports
Are CAFCASS involved in all court applications for child arrangement orders?
Unless a judge orders a full report from a CAFCASS officer, there will be no further input from CAFCASS after the initial safeguarding letter is completed.
What are CAFCASS safeguarding enquiries and letters
At the outset of the court proceedings, CAFCASS will conduct safeguarding enquiries and prepare a safeguarding letter. The CAFCASS officer tasked with carrying out these enquiries won't necessarily be the same person who is asked to prepare a full report if the judge orders one.
The safeguarding enquiries commonly focus on antecedent record (previous convictions) and telephone calls with both parents to see if there are allegations of domestic violence or other serious allegations, such as child neglect. The CAFCASS officer’s job is not to make decisions on the truth of the claims but to flag them up.
What do CAFCASS officers ask parents?
Every court application and the circumstances behind it are different, so Family Lawyers can't publish a list of questions that CAFCASS will ask you, as no two situations are the same. However, in every court case where CAFCASS is involved, they must act in what they think is in the best interests of your child. Whilst you may disagree with their assessment of your child’s best interests, that is the focus of CAFCASS enquiries rather than what you want or what your ex-partner believes their rights are.
Will a CAFCASS officer interview my child during their enquiries?
If CAFCASS are asked to prepare a full report, they may want to see your child alone or observe a contact visit. The precise arrangements will depend on your child’s age, maturity, and the specific circumstances.
CAFCASS officers have substantial experience and skills in interviewing children, including speaking to recalcitrant teenagers or young children who are only able to express their feelings in play and drawings.
Call OTS Solicitors on 0203 959 9123 or contact us online.
Our lawyers speak Arabic, Armenian, Farsi, French/Mauritian Creole, Spanish, Tamil Tagalog/Ilonggo, Urdu/Punjabi.
Related Posts
Child Custody After Divorce UK