[Solved] CAFCASS - How Should I Handle Them?

Well, I've just had my safeguarding interview. Part of me thinks it went well, as I remembered a lot of the points I needed to make, part of me is unsure, as although I was definitely not slagging my ex off in anyway, I feel that I could have perhaps phrased things better - for instance I talked about the [censored] thing, but totally forgot to say my daughter told me on her own accord, etc.

It definitely didn't start well. Through no fault of my own, the lady I spoke to got very stroppy with me before the interview started - I had sent a couple of documents bullet-pointing important incidents of child neglect, etc, which I felt were important for her to see, as there is just so much of it it would be impossible for me to relay everything over the phone and I wanted them to have the full picture, but she hadn't received them yet. She started getting snappy telling me she just wanted to get on with the interview, and that kind of stuff was nothing to do with her. BUT THEN as the interview went on, it became clear to the both of us that the documents I sent were completely relevant and she started backpedalling, saying she would read them when she got them.

It's just so hard when they give you half an hour to tell them everything - it's so much pressure. Also, the lady I dealt with wasn't very clearly spoken, so I was straining to hear her, but that was just her speaking voice, so I didn't want to mention it. It did make the phone call a lot more stress-inducing than it needed to be.

Apart from that, I got most of my main points across (there's a few I missed which I feel are relevant - any idea if I will get to raise these later on?), and I got to address a few false allegations from my ex that have been fired at me previously, which fingers crossed I've cleared up now, but you never know what these people will actually write down.

She said that she was just doing the safeguarding interview, and a different CAFCASS officer would be with us at court, so I've got that to look forward to. I'm sure it would be much more logical to have the same person the whole way through, otherwise the new officer is going to have to play catch up on everything.

Anyway, it's all left me full of adrenaline and anxiety, so I needed to vent! Fingers crossed...

I think it would be a good idea to take a time out, these interviews are so stressful and it's a good idea to take a couple of days off every now and again.. for sanity sake!

Just be careful not to overload the case worker with too much, otherwise the most relevant parts will get lost amongst it all.

It is unfortunate that there's no continuity with cafcass, but it's quite common it seems. Hopefully the next one will have looked at the reports etc before the hearing, but you should get an opportunity to talk to them before going into the hearing, although it's not a given.

All the best