Underlying principles of a Cafcass private law assessment
Cafcass works at the direction of the court and within the framework
provided by the law. Practitioners draw on relevant legislation and
case law throughout their assessments. The law requires the family
court to presume that involvement (direct or indirect) of each parent
in the life of their child will further the child’s welfare, unless the
Best interest
contrary is shown. This is not the same thing as ‘contact at all costs’
principle
and risk assessment is an integral part of every assessment
undertaken. The
welfare of the child remains the paramount
consideration of the courts when making a decision about the
child's upbringing
(Children Act s.1).
• To be heard and to have their views properly taken in to
account.
• Not be subject to proceedings that are longer than necessary,
so uncertainty or heightened conflict is not prolonged for them.
Aspirations in
• To have professionals and courts concentrate on improving their
respect of the
child’s voice/child’s
daily lived experience, which means understanding what it is
now and how it can be improved.
rights
• To benefit from restorative justice that is, restoring normal
health and development; the ability to concentrate and learn at
school and not to be pre-occupied by conflict at home.
Cafcass approaches the assessment task from a child impact
perspective. This means that our goal is to understand the impact of
the family situation on the child. This is likely to be a wider task than
focussing on making recommendations to the court about the
Child impact
dispute. It means that we seek to understand and analyse the child’s
perspective
emotional and psychological world. It also means that we make
recommendations about how things can be improved for the child to
not only the court, but also to the parents and carers.
An essential part of the task is to
work directly with the child. We
are committed to listening to and hearing the child’s own accounts of
their experience. We use a wide range of materials, including
Direct work with the
interactive methods, to facilitate this (links can be found within the
child
folders). The child’s voice will always be reported to court, and wil be
considered in the context of what else is known about the child's
circumstances and what is in their best interests.
Children are active participants in their family situation. Their
own personalities, preferences, resilience, or vulnerabilities will
contribute to the dynamic picture which emerges about their best
Participatory
interests. Parents and children may play an active role in
practice
assessment through core activities such as co-developing a
Parenting Plan and an age-appropriate narrative to share with the
child, while also developing new ways to work together as co-
parents.
Domestic abuse, conflict, alienation and other forms of harmful
Risk of significant
parenting may cause significant emotional harm to children. At
harm
the direction of the court, a primary task in Cafcass is to assess the
level and impact of all types of risk to children.
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Each of the areas of harm and their impact on the child, can be seen
Spectrum of
on a
spectrum. Not all instances of Domestic Abuse, conflict or
concerns
alienating behaviour is as harmful as another.
‘Severe’ adult behaviour does not automatically lead to ‘severe’
impact on the child. Conversely, ‘mild’ adult behaviour might
have a ‘severe’ impact on the child. Persistent adult behaviours
Differential child
and cumulative child impact often has more impact than single
impact
incidents. Practice pathways and tools should be used to support
assessment and analysis and do not replace professional
judgement.
A systems perspective is used throughout. This means that the
wider cultural, community, court, and socio-economic context of each
child’s experience is considered. The practitioner should consider the
Systemic practice
parent-child, parent-parent, child-child relationships in addition to the
influence of wider family, significant other, and environmental factors.
Practitioners must be mindful of any
biases that relate to gender,
education, class, ethnicity, religion, wealth and disability. Gender
neutrality is crucial to ensure that relationship dynamics, power
imbalances, underlying issues, and covert conflict tactics are
Anti-discriminatory
identified and understood in both heterosexual and same sex
practice
relationships. Practitioners should be mindful that men and women
can be both victims and/or perpetrators of domestic abuse, high
conflict, and alienation.
The practitioner should be mindful that cases are complex and may
feature elements from each of the case factor folders. The
framework allows the child's situation to be seen as a whole. There
Avoiding bias
are reminders throughout to check for bias and to double back and
use another set of guidance if it becomes clear that it is relevant.
Practitioners should be mindful of factors that indicate a case may be
complex and at risk of lengthy or repeat litigation. Where these
Early identification
factors are identified, the case may require consideration of an early
of complex cases
appointment of a Children’s Guardian or early assessment for
suitability of other forms of intervention.
These guidance documents and tools should be applied from the
earliest relevant point. This may be during the Work to First Hearing
Dynamic
phase and will be from the case plan stage of Work After First
assessment
Hearing cases.
All adult behaviours should be defined and described as
behaviours not classifications, diagnoses, or jargon. The application of a label
such as 'domestic abuse' or 'alienation' is not the goal of the
Adult behaviour
assessment. The goal of the assessment is to understand the impact
on the child, and an understanding of typologies of adult behavior
can shine a light on the experience of children.
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