Information for parents that live apart (Private Law cases)
Sometimes families can find it hard to agree on what is best for their children, to help make things better they may ask the family court to help resolve their disagreement.
The Working Together for Children Programme (WT4C)
The Working Together for Children (WT4C) programme is designed to help family members understand what their children need most when making arrangements about spending time with separated parents and other important family members.
The programme is for adults who require support to reach agreement about the arrangements for their child/ren and to learn how to manage any difficulties.
Contact Services
Contact Services are provided by independent organisations. They are child centred environments that offer safe, friendly, and neutral places for children to spend time with parents or other people who are important to them. They support parents to help them prioritise the needs of their children post separation so that long-term solutions can be found to keep children in touch with both parents and wider family where it is safe to do so. Cafcass Cymru only refer to and work with Contact providers accredited by the National Association of Child Contact Centres (NACCC).
Supported contact
Where there are no risk issues, families may choose to fund and self-refer to a supported child contact centre, to enable children to meet and spend time with a parent or other family member who they do not live with. Families can find their local accredited Child Contact Centre by visiting the National Child Contact Centre website and using the Find a Child Contact Centre - NACCC function.
Supervised contact
Supervised Contact Services may be used if a higher level of supervision is needed because a child or parent is at risk of harm. Supervised services can also be used to reintroduce a child to a parent where there has been a substantial gap in children spending time with the parent. They are designed as short-term measures, usually used as part of an assessment of if and how arrangements for children and parents to spend time together can continue out of the contact centre.
Cafcass Cymru will make and fund referrals for supervised family time if the practitioner assigned to the case decides that supervised arrangements are necessary to help them complete their assessment or if the Court orders a referral to be made. This decision will be based on a child and family’s individual circumstances and will consider the child’s wishes and feelings.
Before making any referral, Cafcass Cymru will complete a risk assessment and will only refer families where this is safe, suitable, and necessary for the assessments that are being undertaken. The Cafcass Cymru practitioner will consider the number and length of supervised family time sessions that are necessary, up to a maximum of six hours.
If you have been referred to a child contact service or want to find out more, please visit the National Child Contact Centre website for further information.
DNA Testing
If the family court orders that a DNA test should be carried out to confirm the parentage of a child in a Child Arrangement (Section 8) case, current arrangements are that the court will make a request to Cafcass Cymru, and we will instruct our provider DNA Legal to facilitate the collection of the DNA sample on behalf of the court.
The test is free of charge.
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