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CAFCASS prepare court reports on families subject to contested custody and divorce cases.

Letters are addressed to the “Safeguarding Manager” and we are required to check for child protection concerns or any other Family Services involvement.

The Family Services Child Protection Unit keeps a list of CAFCASS requests, noting name of family, address in the Borough and outcome of record check. This includes whether the case is known (if so, the case paper number and team), not known and date of reply to CAFCASS.

If there is no record of the family (ensure that all family members and address are checked):

• The Child Protection Unit Business Support Officer (BSO) a standard letter of reply to the relevant CAFCASS office (and can PP on behalf of the Head of Service – Performance, Audit and Review).

If the family are known:

• If it is clear that the case is allocated to a worker, the reference is sent to the social worker with a standard memo from the Head of Service asking them to reply.
• If the case is no longer open but has been known to us in the past, a memo or email is sent from the Head of Service to the appropriate duty worker asking for the papers to be located and a reply sent to CAFCASS.

If the status of the case is unclear or there are particular issues, the CPU BSO with seek advice from the Head of Service

End