What is CAFCASS and what role do they play?
When cases concern children and young people, CAFCASS is tasked with looking after the interests of the children and making recommendations to the court regarding the safe arrangements for the children and their families.
What is CAFCASS?
Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) is an independent, executive non-departmental public body accountable to the Ministry of Justice. It represents children during the family proceedings to safeguard and promote their welfare.
It is independent of the court, social services, and similar authorities but works under the rules of the Family Court and legislation to work with children and their families. Employees of the CAFCASS make sure that the children’s voices are heard during the family proceedings.
CAFCASS officers advise the court on what they consider to be in the best interest of the child. Also, they help courts reach an arrangement by offering an unbiased and impartial view of the situation.
What does CAFCASS do?
At the request of the court, the CAFCASS family court advisers get involved in the family dispute to work out the best solution for the children and their parents.
Under the rules and regulations of the court, CAFCASS gets involved in three main areas
- Custody and child living arrangements after divorce and separation
- Care proceedings where social services are concerned about the safety and welfare of the child
- Adoption
- Child arrangements
- Child contact disputes
The Role of CAFCASS
CAFCASS employees are termed Family Court Advisers’ (FCA) that work independently of all parties. They work exclusively in family courts in England to deal with cases related to residence, contact, and care.
FCAs aims to find out about the feelings, needs, and wishes of the child and inform the court about their findings. The main role of CAFCASS’ professionally qualified social work staff is to
- Promote the welfare of the children involved in the case
- Advise the family courts in regards to the best interests of the child
- Make provisions for the children
- Provide information, advice, and support to all the parties (children and their families)
Why does CAFCASS get involved with family court cases?
It is quite normal for the CAFCASS to get involved in family law cases. The court orders FCAs to get involved when the family can not reach an agreement on their own.
In some cases, the court appoints CAFCASS as the child’s guardian within the legal proceedings. It is when the court feels that the child needs an independent party to ensure his/her interest is fully looked after. The report prepared by the CAFCASS officer is highly influential and has a significant impact on the outcome of the case.
CAFCASS Report
If the parents have failed to reach an agreement, the court will ask the CAFCASS officer to prepare a report to assist in resolving the dispute. FCAs follow a specific welfare checklist when preparing the report.
Eventually, they will form a conclusion on the basis of
- The wants and needs of the child concerned
- Physical, emotional, and educational needs
- The potential effect on the child in case of change in circumstances
- His/her age, sex, background, and other characteristics relevant to the case
- The capability of parents in meeting the needs of their child
Once finalised, the report will be sent to the court and all parties concerned. The parties can argue and contest the content of the CAFCASS report with clear arguments and sufficient evidence.
