Court reporters - CAFCASS - Sellout - Contact centre
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CAFCASSt SECt Contact PrincipJe$ and Practice Guidance t Draft 1 Draft issued16,O8,O4

. Be aware of Human Rights challenges and the role of IROs.
Adoption:
. Research on contact cannot provide a simple blueprint for practice; decisions must be sensitively dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
. Because decisions about contact are made in emotionally charged settings they need periodic post-placement review to ensure they reflect the needs and interests of children, adopters and birth parents.
. The ability to attune flexibly to a child's needs must be a central issue in assessment
of adopters, as the needs of children will change.
. Contact is most likely to be beneficial when: (i) adopters/foster carers have an open
and empathic attitude towards child and birth family, (ii) birth relatives show acceptance of placement, (iii) issues of child safety (physical, sexual, emotional) are managed.
. If no contact is possible, seek other ways to meet the child's needs.
Safety and risk:
. It is essential to assess and understand possible risk and then to reduce and manage that risk. The degree of the child's exposure to risk during contact needs balancing against the negative consequences of the child having no contact with those concerned.
. Use a written risk assessment to help clarify and document the risk and action you have taken. Share that with a manager when necessary.
. Take anxieties over possible abduction seriously and take whatever action is possible to reassure and/ or help prevent that possibility.
. Be alert to the possible presence of undiagnosed mental health problems and substance abuse and take appropriate action.
Using child contact centres:
. When suggesting use of a child contact centre, ensure the court and the family understand the 'definitions' of contact and what is proposed.
. When making a referral, clarity and understanding over precise arrangements must be shared between practitioner, parents and the centre co-ordinator.
. CAFCASS practitioners must ensure that information concerning potential risk to the child, parent, centre worker or public, is provided to the centre at the point of referral via an agreed risk assessment and/or referral form.
. Where possible arrange for the family to have an introductory visit to the centre.
Parental Alienation 'Syndrome':
. The most recent and authoritative advice from psychiatry is that PAS is a misnomer.
The kind of problems this term is trying to address is often better understood by
'implacable hostility.'
. The underlying interactions need to be understood and implications assessed in
relation to individual children and their parents.
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