Comments on: CAFCASS Chief Exec Subjected to Very Cross Examination

By: the doctor

the doctor — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:58:31 +0000

to all those parents out there that are being cheated by the system (and i admit they do tend to be fathers) dont give up!!! if love is your foundation then when your children are older look them in the eye and say “i never gave up” its not a perfect world we live in and children are the only chance we have of changing that, ” dont give up!” never give up. My father said “truth prevails” and i believe him… god bless the children

By: anon

anon — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 14:49:56 +0000

hi i have read some of these horrific stories and tought i should share mine, me and my ex split up in 2009, for 5 months contact was great then the nastiness started, contact stopped with my daughters in nov 2009 i was not allowed to see them call them or even look at them as my ex had lied to police and had an harrassment warning put on me, in jan 2010 we went to court and cafcass were called in to help.
my ex refused all contact including phone contact and cafcass backed her bearing in mind for the last two years i was the childrens sole carer as my ex owned her own business, my ex then took it upon herself to move the children to another school and area to live without my knowledge this was immediately after i gave her our home so the girls would suffer as minimum as possible, within a week the home was rented out and i only found out they were moving because the school had wished them luck at their new school in the girls school report yet again cafcass backed her up dispite me refusing to agree to them leaving their current school , my ex has not allowed my family to see the children for 18 months now as the cafcass officer has told her to keep the children away from my family cafcass denies this but i have an e mail quoting this.
i have seen my daughters in a contact centre 7 times now in 14 months and my ex is trying to keep it there when i approached cafcass and said i cant afford the contact centre anymore as it is £54 an hour she replied well you wont see your children then and put the phone down onme i had witnesses to this as i had the call on loud speaker.
on one of my visits to the contact centre i was pulled to one side by the cafcass officer and told that the girls had been very naughty and that something had happened with the girls and the mother, the cafcass officer told my daughters that they must not tell me what has happened.
i also have recordings of my daughters saying that the new boyfriend had locked them in their bedrooms when i had turned up to see them back in 2009 and had broken the mobile phone i brought her because she had tried to call me ( i have the broken phone as my distressed daughter got it out of the bin and brought it round to me ), i played the recording to the cafcass officer and she turned it on me saying i had innapropriately asked questions even though my daughter spoke for nearly two minutes without interuption.
at present i have no way of contacting my children i have no address to write to and have recieved nothing from the new school ie photo’s or reports, this particular cafcass officer has been struck off by cafcass before but taken back due to a mass exodus at the company. this is a blatent case of parent alienation which is a form of child abuse but cafcass allow it to happen as it makies their life easier to just damn one parent and give the other residency.
me and my new fiancee are now writing to the local mp in parliament and are awaiting a response for help or guidance in this case i can only hope as this case has cost me £22.000.00 in court fees to get justice for my beautiful daughters and i have now run out of funds so need a good outcome in court in feb 2011,
i would like to wish good luck to any of you going through this nightmare if your a mum or dad suffering this or if your just a spiteful parent researching how to hurt your childs other parent please think before you start children have the god given right to see both parents an their families all you will do is cause irreprable damage to kids and make the solicitors,barristers and judges wealthier to carry on hurting these precious commodities that we have been so very lucky to have.

By: james mackinlay

james mackinlay — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 22:59:14 +0000

your right it is the governments fault for letting there be another organisation funded with public money that employs incompetant staff.. does anyone take their job seriously ?? thank you familoo for your comments..
The government need to fund the one organisation for fathers “familys need fathers” the telephone was only mand from 6 till 10 each night , and i have to say they helped me through my darkest hours . I thank you fnf !!!it was nice to speak to someone who could relate to what i was going through and cared…

By: scouser

scouser — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 16:06:58 +0000

you cant blame the poor cafcass staff. in every case you a re going to get an unhappy party. fnf say that the law favours the women. womens groups say that cafcass favour men. they simply cant win. added point – it is highly publised in the media that cafcass workoad has multiplied tenfold and the budget cut. whos fault is that???

By: Wontgiveup

Wontgiveup — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:05:17 +0000

Thank you Familoo,
[...]It would be disappointing now if no report is produced for the case as I wanted to proceed with the September date [...], however I was advised against it. Now in November, still no report. Meanwhile the costs rise, Cafcass sending a lettert o the courts costs the parents money as the courts copy it to our solicitors who forward it on to us with a bill for “perusal”.

Meanwhile my estranged spouse gains great satisfaction from my reduced contact with our daughter and Cafcass through what appears to be poor case management are inadvertantly supporting her.

Out of interest Cafcass have said that they have contacted local child services and are awaiting a response, despite having a report. You cannot help but wonder if they have only just done so as the date is getting nearer.
[I've edited the sections marked in square brackets above to preserve anonymity and to avoid breaching any rules about publication of evidence filed - familoo]

By: familoo

familoo — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:59:17 +0000

No consolation I suppose, but you are most definitely not the only family in this boat. Maybe your case will be able to progress without a report, lets hope so. Incidentally you are very probably entitled to have a copy of any document that social services have sent to CAFCASS about your child. You could either write asking CAFCASS to disclose it, ask the court to order disclosure of it from CAFCASS or write to the Local Authority asking for a copy of it.

By: Wontgiveup

Wontgiveup — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:27:09 +0000

I too am waiting patiently for the services of Cafcass, “services” being a understatement. They were ordered to provide a report in June for a September hearing which they immediately had moved to November. It is now 7 working days before the November hearing and I am unable to get intouch with my local office on the South Coast as all calls are being diverted to Guildford, due to the designated office being too busy to take calls. The nice lady at Guildford has told me no-one has been allocated to our case.
Cafcass has written back to the court asking that “as both parents have written statements to the court why couldn’t the court just use those?” A very dissappointing approach as they are there to represent the views of our daughter, it is her right to see her parents, both parents. As to the statements, my spouse has stated in hers that our daughter’s headmaster does not agree with any increased contact with me as it would be too much “tooing and froing” we live 5 minutes apart (walking) both next to the school. A comment she has not backed up.
I am expecting Cafcass to delay our hearing again at the last minute, during this time our daughter suffers, the contact she asked for when interviewed by our local child services department, a statement cafcass has in its possession, is withheld. Meanwhile my estranged spouse continues to block access, sending emails that I have never bothered with our daughter prior to our separation, even as far as going on holiday with her current partner and older daughter leaving our daughter with her friends.

Cafcass should be made to stand up and be accountable for its service, or more parents will have to stand by and watch their children become sad and withdrawn during what is a traumatic time in their development.

By: Commonsense Bypass

Commonsense Bypass — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:52:29 +0000

Once again a confrontational demonstration of the industry-need to merge different points to whatever convenience serves the determination to be right. Black-and-white terms and resolvable disputes made intractable: that is my criticism of CAFCASS, the father’s groups and the industry.

The forgotten pro-family voice of a nation speaks out against the exploitation in the industry, and the industry will retaliate against you and your children.

A national children’s group says it is this mentality that puts UK children at risk all the time because the officials have to win.

For the unsupported real parents and the children, there is no winning.

By: familoo

familoo — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 18:43:35 +0000

I’m not sure how any self interest I might have would be furthered by correcting your inaccuracy and by drawing a distinction between two fathers rights organisations. But since anything I say is evidently going to be construed as self-interest I think this is a futile dialogue which I don’t propose to continue. Seeing everything in black and white terms is what makes resolvable disputes into intractable ones.

By: Commonsense Bypass

Commonsense Bypass — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 13:44:18 +0000

Such being sure is about as watertight as a CAFCASS investigation. As part of the industry, self-interest evidently displaces objectivity.