[Solved] CAFCASS

I'm not sure where the mention of an S37 comes in....

You're right - I have NO idea where I got that from! I must have ready S7 as 37!

Oooops sorry.

😀 :whistle: 😉

No worries... it happens to the best of us!

Thanks Guys. My son is just "Fed up with the system" and the longer it goes on, the more deflated and believes it is never going to see his son again.

It will be 1 year in October, which is a huge amount of time in a 5 year old's life.

My main concerns are :

What has his mother told him as to why he doesn't see us anymore?
What contact, if any will the judge order
if contact centre, there is not one near by, over 1 hour away and his mother will make all excuses not to bring him
I know, that we will be back in court, as SHE will break the court order.
Will he remember us (this breaks my heart)

Next hearing on 2nd October is another DRH, i presume to go over the CASCAFF report, then will we have another 3 months for a final hearing, does that mean another Christmas without our grandson.

I understand they have to double triple check everything, but with evidence that my grandson has been seeing us and his dad for over 4 years, and the claims are over 2 years old, you would think this would have been sorted out by now.

Nobody can really say what is going to be ordered - that S7 report is going to have most of the answers for you. Try, until you receive that, to calm your and your son's mind. Easier said than done, I know - been there.

In general, if there are no safeguarding concerns, the Court will want to get contact going again. Given that it has been a year, they may want that to be supervised initially as a "re-introduction" but they may agree that you do the supervising!

As far as your grandson not remembering you or or son - don't worry about that. My children were 4 months old when their mother took them (twins). I next saw them six months later in a contact centre. They came to me and knew me, the contact reports and the judge remarked on this and how obvious it was that there was a bond. The point is, if, at just 4 months old children retain that bond and those memories for so long, I am sure that at 4 years old everything is a whole lot stronger.

I know how you feel now. I know the desperation and the havoc this all causes in your life. It will always be there as one of the most unpleasant experiences ever for you but the pain will fade and hopefully once contact starts again, you will have happier times.

What the mother has or hasn't told your grandson is a worry but it isn't relevant at the moment. The only thing that is relevant is that you continue to work towards getting contact re-instated.

When the S7 comes in, get some advice on the content - either from us here or a solicitor. The report will have specific recommendations as to how contact should proceed.

Above all, use these long periods of time where nothing is happening - between hearings etc - to work on yourselves in terms of looking after your own sanity and well being. Your grandson needs that and so do you.

Nothing I can say will dull the pain or the injustice. I'm afraid you just have to get used to that. Not fair or right I know - but it is what it is 🙁

Will we get to see the Section 7 report before the court date (October).

The order that asks for the S7 should have a due by date on it. "CAFCASS will prepare a S7 report to consider blah blah by XXX date" - something like that.

Just checked... 10th September.

thanks

It should be delivered to your son via Egress Switch. He will have had an email invitation to sign up for this when he received his first CAFCASS email.

If he doesn't have that all set up, he can call CAFCASS and they'll help him deal with it.

Thank you - yes he does have one. I will keep an eye out, with have shared email accounts, so no problem in checking.

Still no email from CAFCASS. It is due before the 10th September, so I need to be patient and stop checking EGRESS everyday.

Trying to look into contact centres, Just in case this is the option ordered. The nearest centre is over 1 hour away and I know his EX will NOT drive that far to bring my grandson. What do you do when there is no centre nearby?

Just keeping myself busy until the report comes in.......

Give local Social Services a call and ask them if they have a list of Contact Centres locally, if they don’t they may be able to point you in the right direction. The CAB might also be able to help.

Thanks Mojo. Will get on to them tomorrow and give you an update.