Press Release

Editors may wish to link this item with the imminent press release from Anthony Douglas, Chief Executive of the Children and Family Courts Advisory and Support Service entitled

'CAFCASS seeks ongoing dialogue with Fathers Groups'.

Families Need Fathers warmly welcomes the statement issued 14 June from CAFCASS and the 'Open Letter to Groups Representing the Interests of Fathers in Family Law'.

This recognises that in the 'vast majority of cases' the interests of the children 'will be best served by preserving children's relationship with both parents'.

CAFCASS also, in the open letter, say that their role 'is to promote positive personal relationships within a family' rather than 'write up entrenched and hostile attitudes in a court report'.

John Baker, FNF Chair said:

'CAFCASS is the key player in the lives of children whose parents separate.

The formal law - The Children Act 1989 - allows the courts to do whatever they like in the cases of disputed arrangements for children whose parents live apart, provided they say it is for the benefit of the children. In nearly every case, courts follow the recommendations made by CAFCASS officers.

The effects of CAFCASS recommendations go far beyond the small minority of cases they formally report on. Informal arrangements and 'agreements' between parents are made in the shadow of the decisions made in contested cases.

Some two out of five of all the nation's children are affected directly or indirectly.
If CAFCASS were to change its attitudes to parenting in disputed cases - allowing the children to have both parents seriously involved in their lives - the rest of society would eventually follow.

Children would have better and fuller relationships with both their parents. A whole raft of social problems, from binge drinking to underage pregnancy, will start easing. There will also be a reduction of bitterness and acrimony. At present one parent - normally the mother - often assumes that they have a right to control the post separation life of the children. The other resents being treated as of little importance.

The adversarial court process encourages each parent to struggle to maximise their control of the children by attacking the character, conduct and parenting of the other.

Anthony Douglas' statement, if acted on by his staff making recommendations to the courts, will result in an major improvement in the lives of the children whose parents live apart.

We are pleased that CAFCASS recognises the distress of excluded parents, and the importance of both their parents to the children. We particularly welcome the renewal of the commitment to dialogue with shared parenting organisations, including ourselves. Mr Douglas has already agreed to speak at FNF's Volunteers Conference early next month.

We are also pleased that he recognises the support work and role of FNF with parents and in the policy making process.
We will be urging him to turn the rhetoric into practice. A cynic could say that statements like this have been made before. Progress on the ground, however, has been very slow.

True, the right of children to visit, or to be visited by, their non-residential parent is now normally recognised. It is still very difficult for a non-residential parent to get, for his or her children, a substantial amount of parenting time rather than simply short visits. This time with their non-residential parents is often quite wrongly put at risk - by unsubstantiated allegations and needless cancellations and disruptions on the part of the residential parent. It is hard to get an appropriate court order and it can still usually be ignored with impunity.

Shared Residence orders, which the Children Act envisaged as being the normal arrangement, are still made in only a small minority of cases, although the number may be rising.

Fathers in intact families now provide a third of all childcare. The commonest contact orders following parental separation still revolve around a fortnightly visit and some holidays together. Children whose parents separate may find that their time with their 'other parent' is cut by two thirds or more, at a time of emotional upheaval and when their residential parent can often devote less time to them as well.

CAFCASS urgently needs to address these problems. FNF, the largest membership charity in the family field and only national supplier of support and information for excluded parents, will continue to struggle for the rights of children to both their parents.’