Going to court for access, how does it work?

puddy

Dontknowanymore wrote: »

Thanks for your reply.
My support worker has already told me that when contact goes ahead they will not arrange or supervise it so I have to arrange it and it could mean starting off at my mums or similar.

I had to attend court alot last year so am not worried about the process, just keen to get it all sorted out and resolved.

Im sure she did, but the courts have not had their say yet!!!! SS never want to supervise because it costs them time and money (they dont have either), but an assessment into whether it can be supervised by your parents has not been made yet. If for whatever reason its not agreed by court, then usually the applicant has to pay for it, or the courts will order that SS (or CAFCASS if applicable) organise and fund it, but thats more likely to happen to SS than CAFCASS

Dontknowanymore

puddy wrote: »

god, im so sorry, i really need to read things properly (typical SW:D)

with regard to when they interview him, no it wont be before a court date, they wont do anything without being instructed as this is not their application, it will be his. they will have advised him to apply because in their opinion this is something that needs a decision by court because of the historical DV but this a private proceeding, not public (like when children are taken into care) and so unless they are asked to do so by the courts, they have no authority or jurisdiction to assess.

without knowing all the ins and outs, it could even be a case whereby the court deem this to be work for CAFCASS because SS are no longer involved in the case. that wont make any difference, CAFCASS will do the same type of investigation and assessment. They should get information from SS to aid their report. there is a very loose rule that if there have been or are CP concerns, the work should be done by SS but if not, then its for CAFCASS but with each organisation lacking resources there is sometimes an argument between them as to whose responsibility it is. however, a court instruction is a court instruction and whoever is told to do it, will need to do it.

At the end of the last court case it was said that before contact can go ahed he has to commit to a certain amount of meetings with the SW and I beleive the first one was scheduled for yesterday, I remeber the support worker mentioning them doing section 7.

puddy wrote: »

Im sure she did, but the courts have not had their say yet!!!! SS never want to supervise because it costs them time and money (they dont have either), but an assessment into whether it can be supervised by your parents has not been made yet. If for whatever reason its not agreed by court, then usually the applicant has to pay for it, or the courts will order that SS (or CAFCASS if applicable) organise and fund it, but thats more likely to happen to SS than CAFCASS

Thanks for all your helpful advice, I like to at least get some idea of what is going to happen.

puddy

Dontknowanymore wrote: »

At the end of the last court case it was said that before contact can go ahed he has to commit to a certain amount of meetings with the SW and I beleive the first one was scheduled for yesterday, I remeber the support worker mentioning them doing section 7.

Thanks for all your helpful advice, I like to at least get some idea of what is going to happen.

ok, well it sounds as if this is a continuation of previous proceedings in a way. SS are right to have concerns about the impact of contact on the children at the moment. if they werent so concerned, they would have said 'its nothing to do with us, sort contact out with the mother', but they havent said that which is why your support worker is contradicting herself a bit, if they are so concerned, they should be putting in proper services which means supervision of contact, however, she will have been told what to say by her manager and so on and they may feel that if he looks likely to keep his behaviour in check and keep the children safe then the grandparents may be able to supervise after all.

how do you think the children will react to contact, are they keen to see dad again?

Dontknowanymore

puddy wrote: »

ok, well it sounds as if this is a continuation of previous proceedings in a way. SS are right to have concerns about the impact of contact on the children at the moment. if they werent so concerned, they would have said 'its nothing to do with us, sort contact out with the mother', but they havent said that which is why your support worker is contradicting herself a bit, if they are so concerned, they should be putting in proper services which means supervision of contact, however, she will have been told what to say by her manager and so on and they may feel that if he looks likely to keep his behaviour in check and keep the children safe then the grandparents may be able to supervise after all.

how do you think the children will react to contact, are they keen to see dad again?

Thanks for that, yes there were care proceedings because I refused to go to a refuge but then after 2 weeks agreed, it was said at the final hearing that he has to apply to court and commit to a number of visits with the SW to show he is commited.
My youngest is not even 2 yet so I don't know if he is keen for contact, they did have a very strong bond until we split up with my ex doing alot of the hands on care, my eldest does want to see him, well he has said a few times he misses him and asked me when his dads birthday is as he wants to make him a card.

puddy

Sounds like you have been through a lot. Do you have enough support?

Its natural for children, even of abusive and dangerous parents to continue to want to see them, but their emotions will inevitably be mixed, even if they dont know this themselves. He may feel slightly nervous and worried about seeing dad, it may bring up difficult feelings that he doesnt understand so watch out for acting out behaviour and reassure him and help him understand that. However, I believe that unless its extremely dangerous for children to see parents, that its important for them to maintain a relationship in a safe way (as long as it meets their needs) because this is how that previous trauma can be somewhat healed.

I hope it goes well

Dontknowanymore

puddy wrote: »

Sounds like you have been through a lot. Do you have enough support?

Its natural for children, even of abusive and dangerous parents to continue to want to see them, but their emotions will inevitably be mixed, even if they dont know this themselves. He may feel slightly nervous and worried about seeing dad, it may bring up difficult feelings that he doesnt understand so watch out for acting out behaviour and reassure him and help him understand that. However, I believe that unless its extremely dangerous for children to see parents, that its important for them to maintain a relationship in a safe way (as long as it meets their needs) because this is how that previous trauma can be somewhat healed.

I hope it goes well

We have been through more than we should have but we have come out the other side, it was particularily hard on my eldest but I have worked hard along side the school to help him deal with it all, with IMO minimal support, but I don't mind, I prefer to just get on and do things myself, then at least I know it gets done and done my way.
The support worker we have now (haven't actually met the actual SW) is lovely, she's supportive if I need her.
Thank you x

Dontknowanymore

Just a little update, went to court and a section 7 has to be undertaken and we go back in 8 weeks time. CAFCASS did put in their report to the legal person that SS in the meantime should arrange and supervise contact, surprise surprise SS won't do this as ''we don't have the budget'' same old story really.

puddy

hmm, no suprise there. is cafcass doing the section 7 or is it SS?

did the court instruct a 9.5 guardian (this is private proceedings isnt it?)? if so, then get in touch with that person and speak to them about the supervision aspect.

has the court instructed SS to supervise contact or is it just a recommendation from cafcass?

Dontknowanymore

puddy wrote: »

hmm, no suprise there. is cafcass doing the section 7 or is it SS?

did the court instruct a 9.5 guardian (this is private proceedings isnt it?)? if so, then get in touch with that person and speak to them about the supervision aspect.

has the court instructed SS to supervise contact or is it just a recommendation from cafcass?

No SS are doing it, I guess it makes sense seeing as they have been involved so much.
No there is no 9.5 guardian and I'm unsure if the courts have instructed SS to supervise contact. And yes it is private proceedings, well I guess so?

The whole process was all rather bizzare, it was just me, my ex and a lady in the court room, she wasn't sitting in the normal place magistrates do and she wasn't a magistrate, we were sitting in the row directly in front of her, I spoke with the CAFCASS woman for about 10 mins, then she spoke to my ex, then we went in the court room and mainly were just asking the woman questions and going through how the process works, she also filled out some sort of form.

puddy

no, there wont be a guardian if SS are instructed, cafcass probably wont be involved other than advising the court when the case is heard.

what do you think about contact being supervised, do you think your parents are up to the job or is it too risky? if you are concerned and contact is beneficial to the children, then you need to kick up a stink to ensure that contact happens safely, or contact could wait until the outcome of SS report.

it would appear to be his own private application for contact, but SS have already said (in so many words) that contact is too risky without some structure or supervision around it, however, who supervises it is part of the assessment. i do hope that their professional integrity is not comprimised by funds, ie: the grandparents can supervise (because we have no money to do it ourselves). it may well be that this is fine, but it needs objective assessment