Cafcass, evidence, and witnesses
Research into how, when, and where Cafcass interview either parent, and how and when they interview the children involved.
The Voice of the Child - Family Law Research Articles
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2017 – The Beginning of the Beginning
We’ve only been online for 4 months – here’s what we’ve achieved so far:
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Cafcass Library Parental Alienation Resources
A list (with summaries) of articles and resources held within the Cafcass Library and available to Cafcass FCAs on the subject of Parental Alienation in 2016
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UPDATED: Open Letter to Anthony Douglas CEO of Cafcass
The text below is an Open Letter to Anthony Douglas, CEO of Cafcass from the Research Team at Voice of the Child. It’s an offer to engage in the interests of children.
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Sarah Parsons talks about the Cafcass Tools Matrix
Cafcass Tools Matrix. There is a requirement for all practitioners employed by Cafcass to use the tools, forms and templates provided. But do they? (Clue: no they don’t)
Open letters & Child Maintenance Payments
An open letter got a fair bit of attention last week. We take a look at the issues raised and provide some perspective about the origin and issues raised.
Costs of childhood – Where’s the research?
The costs of children are something that is frequently mentioned in discussions around Child Support. Where is the research?
Heidi Allen’s Bill – Deja Vu
The first draft of Heidi Allen’s Bill to re-introduce Asset and Lifestyle variations into the UK Child Maintenance legislation was released last week.
Cafcass, evidence, and witnesses
Research into how, when, and where Cafcass interview either parent, and how and when they interview the children involved.
It’s time for the Judiciary to wake up
This week saw the publication of Re J (A Child – Intractable Contact) [2017] EWFC B103 (19 December 2017) by His Honour Judge Bellamy sitting in Derby. You can read the full details here:...
Which HMRC Tax Year should the CMS use for calculations?
The CMS must use current income and the most recent tax year income from HMRC – so why do they lie about which year they can use?
Recognition of Significant Harm
The Children Act 1989 introduced Significant Harm as the threshold that justifies compulsory intervention in family life in the best interests of children. Harm is defined as the ill treatment or impairment of health and development.
The £3.8billion question….Child maintenance arrears
Child Support Agency admits that it made up the amount of arrears to scare and mislead parents and now the DWP accepts that these fake arrears have been carried across to the CMS. It’s time for a full public enquiry.
2017 – The Beginning of the Beginning
We’ve only been online for 4 months – here’s what we’ve achieved so far:
Cafcass Library Parental Alienation Resources
A list (with summaries) of articles and resources held within the Cafcass Library and available to Cafcass FCAs on the subject of Parental Alienation in 2016
Another biased DWP “consultation” on Child Maintenance
On December 14th, the Government (via Department of Work and Pensions) launched a consultation on their “Child Maintenance: a new compliance and arrears strategy“. They said The proposals in this consulation seek to strengthen...
Parental Alienation, Safeguarding, Schools and Local Authorities
When two parents are at war (or in High Conflict…) the only safe ground for the children is often their school or children’s services. Likewise, for any alienated parent, the school and children’s services...
Heidi Allen’s Voting Record on Welfare, Benefits and Taxation
The dictionary defines the word hypocrite as follows: Hypocrite noun 1. a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that he or she does not actually possess, especially a...
Heidi Allen and her 10 minute Bill – An analysis
Heidi Allen gave what on the face of it looked like a convincing speech in support of her 10 minute Bill. However, looking at the detail reveals some shocking errors and omissions in the “facts” presented to Parliament.
Spotlight on Heidi Allen MP
We explore the attitudes of the MP Heidi Allen when it comes to the self employed, Limited Company Directors and the Child Maintenance Service.
UPDATED: Spotlight on Barry Porter, Head of the CMS FIU
We investigate the history behind the man running the Financial Investigations Unit; Barry Porter
UPDATED: Open Letter to Anthony Douglas CEO of Cafcass
The text below is an Open Letter to Anthony Douglas, CEO of Cafcass from the Research Team at Voice of the Child. It’s an offer to engage in the interests of children.
CMS and the Financial Investigation Unit (FIU)
We’ve taken a look at the CMS Financial Investigation Unit (FIU), how they’re trained, and how they operate. This is the first of many articles to come.
Sarah Parsons talks about the Cafcass Tools Matrix
Cafcass Tools Matrix. There is a requirement for all practitioners employed by Cafcass to use the tools, forms and templates provided. But do they? (Clue: no they don’t)
Cafcass Customer Satisfaction Survey 2017
Cafcass Failing Children and Families 2017. Our survey results for 2017 are a damning indictment of Cafcass and of the leadership of Cafcass.
Spotlight on Sarah Parsons from Cafcass
Sarah Parsons, as the Principal Social Worker for Cafcass and Head of L&D, is responsible for 1,400 FCAs of which most don’t and haven’t done their training. We ask WTF is going on?
The CMS have been getting pension contributions wrong for years. Are you due a refund?
The CMS has been treating pension contributions wrong for years. We examine the problem.
You may be due a refund.
Joint accounts and the CMS – What were the DWP told in answer to their consultation?
What was the DWP told by the responses to the Joint Account Consultation? What did Gingerbread, Resolution, the British Bankers Association, the Money Advice Trust and, the public tell the DWP?
CMS – People under the microscope
Voice of the Child will be looking closely at a number of individuals responsible for the shambles that is the Child Maintenance Service. We outline them here.
We need your help as well. Get involved.
Child Maintenance Service – Policy, Law and Decision Making Guidance
The CMS relies on a set of documents known as “Policy, Law and Decision Making Guidance” or “PLDMG” to guide its caseworkers. We reveal them here.
Updated (again): Cafcass, Douglas, and the High Conflict Pathway
Anthony Douglas of Cafcass proposes to launch his High Conflict Pathway tool – read about the actual tool and why it is not fit for purpose here.
CMS Full set of Policies and Procedures
We have obtained a full set of the Child Maintenance Service Policies and Procedures taken from their internal systems. NOTE: We are in the process of indexing these documents and this page will be...
Cafcass, MPs, and complaints
We know that many of our enquiries relate to service users who have complained to Cafcass and got nowhere and have even got their MP to complain to Cafcass on their behalf, so we...
Cafcass – Professional Indemnity Insurance
Oh dear… Cafcass does not have professional indemnity insurance cover for their employees or for the organisation as a whole.
The CMS, your data, hacking, and Government profiteering
We have discovered that the UK Government is literally profiting from the large amount of Arrears it has allowed the CMS to build up. In addition, your data may have been the subject of a hack.
