Victoria Soeder
Cafcass National Office
3rd Floor
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
21 Bloomsbury Street
London
Your ref: CAF 19-212
WC1B 3HF
Our ref: Gov/CAF 19-212
Tel 0300 456 4000
Email
: xxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx.xx
17 December 2019
Dear Ms Soeder,
Re: Freedom of Information request
Thank you for your email of 14 December 2019. You made the following requests for
information:
1. Please supply the date(s) CAFCASS changed the principles underlying private law
2018-2019.
The ‘Underlying principles of a Cafcass private law assessment’ document is part of the
Child Impact Assessment Framework (CIAF) and was developed by Cafcass as part of the
Framework. The ‘Underlying principles of a Cafcass private law assessment’ outlines the key
points to be considered in our assessment in private law cases.
Fol owing your feedback on the wording of the section ‘Adult Behaviour’, the document was
updated on 10 December 2019. The document now states:
The document was updated to clarify the need for Cafcass practitioners to avoid categorising
adult behaviour and the intention of the original wording was not to imply that medical
conditions were ‘behaviours’. Whilst the wording in the document was amended, the
principle, which is the need to avoid categorising adult behaviour as the goal of our
assessment is to understand the impact on the child, remains the same.
Sally Cheshire CBE Interim Chair
Jacky Tiotto Chief Executive
Cafcass, the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service, is a non-departmental body of the Ministry of Justice
Cafcass National Office, 3rd Floor, 21 Bloomsbury Street, London, WC1B 3HF
2. Please provide the date CAFCASS amended or removed the principle: Adult
behaviour to Avoiding categorisation of adult behaviour and published it on their
website, furthermore the date Cafcass staff were informed of changes to the principle.
The document was updated on 10 December 2019. Whilst the wording in the document was
amended, the principle, which is the need to avoid categorising adult behaviour as the goal
of our assessment is to understand the impact on the child, remains the same. There was no
staff communication on the changed wording as whilst the wording has changed the principle
remains the same.
3. Please provide CAFCASS principles underlying private law from October 2018- the
date CAFCASS removed/amended them and by contrast please provide the
amended principles underlying private law.
Please find attached a copy of the current version of the Underlying principles of a Cafcass
private law assessment’, which was updated on 10 December 2019. Please also find
attached a copy of the Underlying principles of a Cafcass private law assessment’ from
October 2018.
We hope that you feel your question has been answered effectively. If you are unhappy with
the decisions made in relation to your request, you may ask for an internal review to be
undertaken. If you are dissatisfied with the way the internal review is handled or with the
final decision made at that review about the information released, you are free to contact the
Information Commissioner’s Office
(https://ico.org.uk/):
Post
Fax
Information Commissioner's Office
01625 524 510
Wycliffe House, Water Lane,
Tel
Wilmslow,
0303 123 1113
Cheshire
E-mail
SK9 5AF
xxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx
Yours sincerely,
Governance Team
Cafcass
xxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Sally Cheshire CBE Interim Chair
Jacky Tiotto Chief Executive
Cafcass, the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service, is a non-departmental body of the Ministry of Justice
Cafcass National Office, 3rd Floor, 21 Bloomsbury Street, London, WC1B 3HF
Sally Cheshire CBE Interim Chair
Jacky Tiotto Chief Executive
Cafcass, the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service, is a non-departmental body of the Ministry of Justice
Cafcass National Office, 3rd Floor, 21 Bloomsbury Street, London, WC1B 3HF
