Cafcass apologised for an inaccuracy in a report

What happened

Ms F was involved in court proceedings relating to contact between her son and his father. She raised many complaints about the Cafcass officer (the officer), including the contents of the Cafcass report and the officer's recommendations. She felt that the report should have focused on what was best for her son but instead focused on her own mental health, which she considered to be irrelevant.

Part of Ms F's complaint was that the officer told her that she did not need to meet her son again but was happy to see him if Ms F wished. The officer had already interviewed Ms F's son. However, the report said that the officer had 'offered to meet the child but Ms F had not facilitated this request'.

Ms F felt that this was unfair and it had made her look obstructive. Ms F complained to Cafcass but was unhappy with how it dealt with her complaint. She wanted Cafcass to admit fault and make a payment to her for the distress caused.

What we found

We found that while many of Ms F's concerns were matters for the court, the sentence in the report relating to meeting the child did not accurately reflect the situation and could have been worded better. By using the word 'request', the officer had suggested that Ms F had failed to do something she been asked to do, when in fact the officer had not asked to meet her son.

Putting it right

The officer accepted that the sentence could have been worded better and that she had not intended for it to be a criticism of Ms F. Cafcass apologised to Ms F, amended the report and sent a copy to the court.