This section records the waypoints en route to Section 8 reform from 1996 to the present day. This shows how Cafcass started off as a blank in 2001 - and remains that way today; how its officers are untrained - in the crux of their job - i.e., how much contact to recommend when; and why Cafcass says that does not matter; why there is no guidance for parents, and how Cafcass, finger-in-glove with Whitehall, has prevented and will continue to prevent reform.
Elsewhere on this site (‘Issues’) the building blocks of the family law system are considered in isolation. Here, they emerge in narrative form. Two clear forces are discernible: the allies of progress, trying to deliver better outcomes; and the dead hand of resistance, delivering more-of-the-same.
Topics (in rough chronological order).
Origins of Section 8 Family Law Reform
The 1997 guidelines on child-contact
The Cafcass blank 2001: flawed origins
The Cafcass blank 2017: the CEO
The Cafcass blank 2018: the Minister
The 2002 International Family Law Conference
The 2003 Family Law Reform Seminar (EI)
Derailing the 2004 Family Law Reform
Family Law Reform: the EI flowchart
Hijacking Reform: Family Law 2004
Family Law Reform: the Statutory Amendment
Family Law Back to Front
Norgrove and Australia: Family Policy Built on Error
Judicial training on child-contact
Family Law Reform: an Overview
To access any of these sections, click on the links below:
Waypoints to Reform
The 1997 guidelines on child contact
In 1997 the Association of Family Court Welfare Officers issued a set of guidelines placing a value on the child-parent bond.
Without guidance along these lines, an officer could recommend the stoppage of all material contact for no material reason - and, if that became the case’s outcome (as it most likely would) that outcome would be labelled ‘in the child’s best interests’.