Call for ‘urgent action’ on children’s services
A group of 18 legal, medical and child care organisations has called for urgent action to reform the delivery of court services to children in family proceedings.
The Interdisciplinary Alliance for Children issued a joint position statement last week, voicing ‘grave concerns’ about the services currently provided by the Children and Family Courts Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass).
The group questioned whether the Cafcass model provides the most effective and cost-efficient service, and urged the government to make changes without waiting for the outcome of its family justice review.
The statement follows the report on Cafcass published by the National Audit Office last week. The report criticised Cafcass’s failure to respond more quickly and cost-effectively to the increase in demand for its services following the death of Baby P in 2007.
A Cafcass spokeswoman said it had improved its capacity to manage its increased workload, reduced the backlog of unallocated cases, and helped more children in the last year than ever before.
Family lawyers’ group Resolution suggested to the government’s family justice review panel last week that the burden on Cafcass could be reduced if courts directed parents to obtain private social work reports where they could afford to, instead of having them prepared at public expense.
Comments
Why the Family Courts are in a mess.
On 8th February Judge MIlls ordered CAFCASS to prepare an addendum report on the issue of parental responsibility and contact, such report to be filed by 29.6.2010.
The Cafcass addendum report states that I should be granted parental responsibility as I have demonstated a commitment to my daughter. The CO suggested that contact should continue, according to the court order of 08.02.10. until the end of July when it could move away from the contact centre altogether including, possibly, taking place in the father's home.
I went to a direction hearing on 21st June. Judge Mills had not seen the Cafcass Report, I gave him mine to look at. He then asked the mother what she thought about the report. She was not happy about contact, Judge Mills agreed with her and no further direction was made until December 2010
It's Judges like him, especially in the Croyden Family Court that are clogging up the sytem. Because of his lack of direction my daughter and I can not be together for longer than three hours a fortnight. This all began in the Family Court when she was one and a half years old, under his control and lack of direction it still goes on, and my daughter will be four in November. He is a Judge and he can do what he likes.
So the order stayed the same as February which is collecting my daughter from the contact centre and after three hours outside the centre I have to return her and this will stay the same till 9th December till the final hearing. I have been at the contact centre with my daughter since September 2009.
Patrick Gallacher has made
Patrick Gallacher has made the mistake of believing that Courts are there to achieve justice. They are not-they are effectively just a tick box exercise administered by civil servants.
In the civil service it does not matter if nothing is done, provided nothing can be seen to be done wrong. Inactivity can never be wrong because no decision has been made.
18 legal, medical and
18 legal, medical and Childcare organisations have every right to complain about CAFCASS,
Cafcass are holding up the conveyor belt carrying their meal tickets, totally unacceptable
18 legal, medical and
18 legal, medical and Childcare organisations have every right to complain about CAFCASS,
Cafcass are holding up the conveyor belt carrying their meal tickets, totally unacceptable