All Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) practitioners are qualified social workers with experience of working with children and families to represent the best interests of children within family proceedings. It is the practitioner's responsibility to identify any diversity issues, including a child or family\u2019s faith, in any case and to assess any safeguarding or welfare issues. Practitioners will analyse each individual child's circumstances, taking account of relevant aspects of the Welfare Checklist in section 1 of the Children Act 1989, when assessing their needs and how these are best met.<\/p>
<\/p>
Each Cafcass service area has a responsibility to identify the diversity needs of groups of children living in their area who they are working with, and to take action accordingly. Cafcass\u2019 Equality and Diversity Strategy (2013-15) explains how it shares best practice across teams and service areas, collating lessons learnt from a range of sources. Where staff attend training courses, the learning is shared with the rest of the service area and communicated to Cafcass\u2019 group of Diversity Ambassadors. Representatives from local groups are invited to team meetings to discuss the work that they do and practitioners are encouraged to use these groups as a resource when considering casework decisions.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4183", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Faulks"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lord Faulks"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2014-12-04", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2014-12-04T16:02:53.487Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "54"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2014-11-20", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "CAFCASS"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty\u2019s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service staff dealing with child protection cases involving children from minority religious faiths, such as the Charedim, have the necessary expertise to assess the impact of faith on those children when they advise the courts.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1732", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Warner"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Warner"} ], "uin" : "HL3029"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/89861", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Ministry of Justice"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/89861/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The following table sets out the number of complaints received by Cafcass in each of the last three years:<\/p>
Financial<\/strong><\/p> Year<\/strong><\/p><\/td> Number of complaints <\/strong><\/p><\/td><\/tr> 2011-12<\/p><\/td> 1,264<\/p><\/td><\/tr> 2012-13<\/p><\/td> 1,496<\/p><\/td><\/tr> 2013-14<\/p><\/td> 1,596<\/p><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table> <\/strong><\/p> In 2012 Cafcass simplified their complaints process, reducing the number of stages involved from three to one and ending the classification of complaints as \u2018upheld\u2019. Figures for the number of upheld complaints during this period do not, therefore, exist. The focus of the complaints system is now on putting things right for service users while their case is ongoing so that any necessary remedial action can be taken.<\/p> <\/p> The rising trend shown by the figures is, in part, a reflection of the increase in the volume of cases which Cafcass dealt with during this period. However, the main factors which have contributed to the rising trend are Cafcass\u2019 focus on raising awareness of the complaints process for service users.<\/p> <\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/194", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Simon Hughes"}
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], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many complaints have been (a) made and (b) upheld against the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service in the last three years.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1547", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Benyon"}
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, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/89868", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Ministry of Justice"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/89868/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " The following table sets out the number of complaints received by Cafcass in each of the last three years:<\/p> Financial<\/strong><\/p> Year<\/strong><\/p><\/td> Number of complaints <\/strong><\/p><\/td><\/tr> 2011-12<\/p><\/td> 1,264<\/p><\/td><\/tr> 2012-13<\/p><\/td> 1,496<\/p><\/td><\/tr> 2013-14<\/p><\/td> 1,596<\/p><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table> <\/strong><\/p> In 2012 Cafcass simplified their complaints process, reducing the number of stages involved from three to one and ending the classification of complaints as \u2018upheld\u2019. Figures for the number of upheld complaints during this period do not, therefore, exist. The focus of the complaints system is now on putting things right for service users while their case is ongoing so that any necessary remedial action can be taken.<\/p> <\/p> The rising trend shown by the figures is, in part, a reflection of the increase in the volume of cases which Cafcass dealt with during this period. However, the main factors which have contributed to the rising trend are Cafcass\u2019 focus on raising awareness of the complaints process for service users.<\/p> <\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/194", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Simon Hughes"}
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, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"}
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, "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"}
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], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many complaints have been made against the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service in the last three years; and how many such complaints have been upheld.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1547", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Benyon"}
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, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Richard Benyon"}
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