[Solved] Section 7

I would ignore social worker and what she is saying. Just focus on getting contact with child/children. social workers generally try to wind you up and frustrate and act on err of caution. social workers are a lot harder to deal with than cafcass when it comes to child arrangements. pretty often a social workers mind is made up before they meet you and its like they almost picked sides. Don't engage in arguments with them or react to them as it just makes you look bad and the worse they become towards you.

How old is child you are trying to get access for? Your main aim is to try and get as much contact as possible and don't mudsling and raise allegations against ex. As you can see from your section 7 raising concerns fall on deaf ears unfortunately and ends up been used against you and making ex even more hostile.

So what I am saying is it don't matter what ex calls you or does to cause trouble. nothing ever happens. only way to walk away happy is to secure lots of contact and come across as child focused whilst she carries on behaving the way she does

I have a feeling the recommendations are not going to be favourable this SW is so nasty and shoots my son down at every opportunity. How do we go about challenging recommendations if they aren't what my son was hoping for . Can anyone show examples please .
The fact that she doesn't know parts of her job worries me for when she writes the report .

hi,

after the S7 report is out, your son should be expected to write his responses to it and present that in court. check the court papers. it should state what needs to be done in time for next hearing. if the report is rubbish, then there is no point in arguing with social worker. they will just tell him to raise his concerns in court. my s7 report will be out early april. if its negative, i don't think theres much I can do about it.

you mentioned previously that your son has mental health issues, is anything being done to address that?

Yes he is seeing his gp and been prescribed medication. The gp has known about the abuse my son has suffered for approx 8 months. He has never suffered from depression before and knows it is relatated to his current circumsrances.is there a format at how you respond, or do you just take your response in on the day. The Sw has been asked to be there for the next court hearing. Are you self representing and is it for contact

hi,

yes i am self-representing this time round. I am already seeing my children with a court order. but its not enough, so I have asked for more time/nights.

Ok, well i hope everything goes well for you. If lots of allegations have been made in the first hearing does it usually go to a fact finding or does that come after the section 7 report if that has been requested.

I wouldn't challenge any recommendations. you can only really get anywhere challenging any if they are totally not factual. problem u got is family courts 9/10 follow cafcass /sw recommendation. as for your son seeing gp..you need to put that down to a one off and play it down as this will be used against him in family court. social workers think its ok for mums to have problems and able to seek help but if your a dad its the opposite and easy to use against you as sw has an easy life in some cases

Ok, well i hope everything goes well for you. If lots of allegations have been made in the first hearing does it usually go to a fact finding or does that come after the section 7 report if that has been requested.

hi,

its difficult to tell. at my 1st hearing last year, ex lawyer/cafcass wanted fact finding. my barrister managed to talk them out of that. instead they did S7. there was no need for fact finding. only allegations were stupid stuff like i didn't let ex drive my car.

found brief info:

The court will only arrange a fact finding hearing if the allegations will make a difference to the court's final decision. If the other party admits the allegations or they have been found guilty by a criminal court, it will already be clear that the allegations are true.

My son has had one 45 min meeting with Sw where she wanted to know about the relationship he had with his ex and what happened throughout it. He tired to Speak about their son but the Sw stopped him. He is due to have a final meeting in the midddle of march. Is that normally the extent of the meetings. I thought they would be more thorough?

hi,

am not sure what local social services are like. my section 7 interview lasted an hour in cafcass office, then they did the report later on. if social services have been involved for a long long time & and theres lot of history, then im guessing it will be a longer process.

social workers are a lot worse than cafcass. cafcass are generally friendly and easier to speak to. social workers will try to press buttons and be nosey and try and interfere with your social life. its best to keep speaking about child and not ex and don't entertain anything she says. always be polite though
as you don't want to get personal with them. they become 10 x worse if you do