Cafcass

Cafcass represents children and young people in family court cases in England. We independently advise the family courts about what is safe for children and in their best interests. We put their needs, wishes and feelings first, making sure that children’s voices are heard at the heart of the family court setting. Our duty is to safeguard and promote the welfare of children going through the family justice system. We support over 140,000 children and young people every year.

As the largest employer of qualified social workers in England, we are deeply committed to making a positive difference to each child we support and are dedicated to improving the lives of children and families.

We work in three main areas:

• Divorce and separation (‘private law’) where parents or carers cannot agree on arrangements for their children.
• Care proceedings (‘public law’) where social services have serious concerns about the safety or welfare of a child.
• Adoption, which can be either public or private law.

We work actively with our partners in the family justice system to identify solutions to help reduce the increasing pressures on the family courts and to improve the experiences and outcomes for children and families.