court ordering a section 37, need advice

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fitzhelm
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue May 15, 2018 12:16 pm

court ordering a section 37, need advice

Post by fitzhelm » Thu May 17, 2018 12:42 pm

hello, just to give a brief overview of where i am, i have two children 10 (girl) and a boy who is 7,
*my ex partner is only biological father of one of the children
*in 2015 he made false allegations to social services these claims were never substantiated,
*order was issued in 2016 for 2 nights a week
* since then his partner contacted me in oct 2017 to highlight that she was concenred for the safety of the children, she reported him to the police for harming one of her children. she told me he was volatile, he breaks their things, locks them in rooms, questions them for hours on end, lets them play 18 rated games, allowed my 9 year old to go to the shop alone,allowed both children to go to the beach alone, he allowed my 9 year old to use whatsapp , he asked and forced the children to lie,they have been forced to lead a double life for fear of "getting dad into trouble" ( their words). he has told them i dont love them and that i dont want them and that i am evil and want to keep them away fromhim, and they must not tell me things.

i ceased contact and took my concerns to the police, i took my concens to social services, i then made an applicaton to the court to dissolve the current court order and also remove the parental responsability that had been awarded to him in the first court order for my daughter
he admitted to everything above,
caffacsss completed the section 7 and the recommendation is that the children return to him for two nights per week,report was littered with factual inaccuracies,in one paragraph she states the childrens emotional wellbeing needs to be considered and the next recommends two nights of unsupervised contact.
the cafcasss docusment also dismisses the things said by his partner as "bitter dispute" even though children have cooberated what has happened. also dismisses the issues above as difference in parenting style. said that because he has never physically harmed the children and they do not fear him that they should go back.

i refused to agree to contact other than letters and the case has now been upgraded to a district judge ,the judge has recommended a section 37 be carried out aswell as a pshycological assessment of my daughter, and said to me that i am abusing the children emotionally by not letting them see thier father, and potentially will look remove them from my care.

my concern is
1, the fact the court do not appear to have addressed the issues they children faced in my ex partners care,
2, the court have not indicated how we resolve said issues and simply want me to hang them back to him,

so i feel stuck between a rock and a hard place,
any advice is appreicated,
thanks

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Suzie, FRG Adviser
Posts: 4207
Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2011 2:57 pm

Re: court ordering a section 37, need advice

Post by Suzie, FRG Adviser » Wed May 23, 2018 2:29 pm

Dear fitzhelm,

Welcome to the Parent’s Board.
Unfortunately, I cannot give detailed advice about private law proceedings as this is not within the remit of Family Rights Group.
It appears that the court agree with the section 7 report which is completed by a CAFCASS officer. The assessment is independent of both you and dad but appears to go in favour of dad’s position-is that right?
CAFCASS are the “ears and eyes” of the court because they can assess the family situation. They can go into both your homes, speak to you both, interview the children and contact professionals such as the school, police and children services. Judges usually put a lot of weight on the conclusion of s7 reports.
It is not clear from your post why, but it seems that the court are worried that your children may be at risk of suffering significant harm. To ensure that your children are safeguarded the court have asked that children services carry out a section 37 assessment.

By ordering this, the court are asking children services to find out whether they should apply for a care order or supervision order in respect of your children or to provide any other services or assistance in respect of your children.

The court themselves are not allowed to initiate care or supervision proceedings-only a local authority can apply for such orders and then the court would decide whether these should be granted.

The court will have ordered that a bundle of the court papers will be served on Children services who will then carry out an assessment.
It is important that you comply with the assessment. Here is information about assessments and care proceedings .

For more detailed advice section 37 reports, you could contact Rights of Women or the Child Law Advice Line .

Best wishes,

Suzie

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