Hi all, long story short…. 2 years ago got shared care of daughter, 4 nights a week due to mums substance misuse. Started proceedings again last august as mum getting worse and change in her behaviour in school.
cut to now, she has a guardian. Since final proceedings in 2020 mum has been charged with drug driving, one positive hair strand test for illegal drugs and one for chronic excessive alcohol (6 months) mum had psych report which states she needs therapy and to abstain. She still drinks, scram bracelet showed she tried to tamper and drank small amounts on 6 occasions over 2 months (may/June)
the guardian has come back with their final recommendations as 50/50 shared care!!!! But I can stop overnight contact if she has problematic drinking, she’s still not abstaining. I will obviously fight this, but any advice on how you can ask for a review via CAFCASS? Crazy stuff!
hi,
generally with Cafcass reports, they state that if you disagree with it then you can challenge it in court. If you don't have a lawyer I would suggest you look up some case laws to support your arguments, to show that mother should have less time with children/supervision if she is a risk. www.bailii.org is a good site that contains judgements from actual family court cases
also take look at cafcass practice guidance on child contact https://www.cafcass.gov.uk/download/2434/
A Cafcass report can only be successfully challenged if there has been procedural flaws in how it was conducted. A checklist to consider:
-Did they interview the mum in her home?
-When did contact between mum and child last take place?
-Has contact between mum and child been observed by Cafcass officer?
-Has the mum expressed commitment to resolving her challenges?
What arrangements have Cafcass proposed for stepped contact?
@mrstrange mum has stated she will make changes (she also did this in 2020) after last proceedings. But is now no longer abstinent and has not had any testing for over 2 months. The guardian has stated that if she drinks again then I can stop overnight contact, but she still is drinking (in moderation apparently) so not sure how this works 😂
