Commissioned Child Contact
Mike Coote
Marie Holland
Commissioning and Partnerships Managers
Update
• The Family Justice Review – proportionate
interventions, cases moving out of court, and
complex cases
• The range of services provided by the
voluntary sector (Supported, Supervised,
Mediation, SPIP, DVPP) is developing
• Reduced ‘bureaucracy’ and increased self
assessment and evaluation
Commissioned Child Contact
• Supervised Contact:
• is an intervention for complex cases.
• needs to deliver high quality purposeful
interventions that are well thought through,
documented, reliable, and focussed on
successful outcomes.
• needs to be well connected in a multi- agency
environment
Commissioned Child Contact
• The Family Justice System is on a road to
change and improvement, it would be
unexpected if it were smooth
• Cafcass proportionate working
• Providers of services need to be robust and
resilient
• C & P need to give good notice of
requirements and changes
Commissioned Child Contact
• What does effective working with Cafcass look
like?
Commissioned Child Contact
• Clarity about the service required and
provided
• Good communication
• Sound assessment of risk with reliable
reporting
• Good management and governance
• Good reporting back
Commissioned Child Contact
– Contact Supervision – observed and reported
• The provision of child contact services is in support of
the Children and Adoption Act 2006
• Work with children and families should aim to develop
and enhance children’s relationships with parents,
develop parenting skills, and encourage families,
where it is safe, to take responsibility for their own
arrangements.
Commissioned Child Contact
– Contact Supervision – observed and reported
• Supervision of contact between child and family
member(s). To ensure safe contact, establish what is
working and what could be improved, and to work with
the child and parents to make changes. Establishing
safe and appropriate next steps. Can also be used only
to monitor contact while awaiting resolution of risk
issues.
• Planning the service with the CAFCASS practitioner:
frequency, venue and nature of service. Recording this
plan.
• Delivery of services over a period not longer than 6
months.
Commissioned Child Contact
• Contact Supervision – observed and reported
• Recording all contacts and actions taken. Recording
the child’s responses and providing this as planned to
the CAFCASS practitioner in the agreed format.
• Where required to do so by CAFCASS the author of any
report will attend court to give evidence. This is likely
to be infrequently required at this level of service