Tag Archive for: Enabling Family Time

Quick answer: what is Enabling Family Time?

Enabling Family Time is a Cafcass-commissioned service for families involved in private law Family Court proceedings.

It replaced the previous ICFA service.

It is intended to help a child safely build, maintain or rebuild a relationship with a parent they do not live with, or another important adult.

A Cafcass Family Court Adviser must assess that the service is in the child’s best interests and that the family would benefit from it.

The service will commonly involve up to three family-time sessions, usually around 90 minutes each.

Workers observe the sessions and prepare factual notes for the Family Court Adviser.

It is not a fresh domestic-abuse or safeguarding assessment, and the family-time worker is not there to determine disputed allegations.

ICFA has been replaced by Enabling Family Time

For years, parents involved in private children proceedings may have encountered the Improving Child and Family Arrangements service, usually shortened to ICFA.

ICFA could involve work with parents and children over several weeks, including observed family time and work intended to overcome barriers to workable arrangements.

That service has now evolved into Enabling Family Time.

Cafcass describes the replacement as a clearer and more focused approach centred on children’s needs and on helping them experience safe and meaningful time with parents or other important adults.

That is significant because old advice about ICFA will not necessarily describe the service a family is now being offered.

Who can be referred to Enabling Family Time?

The service is not something a parent simply books independently as part of the Family Court proceedings.

Cafcass states that it is available where a Family Court Adviser is working with the family and assesses that Enabling Family Time:

• is in the child’s best interests; and
• would benefit the child and family.

The FCA should speak with the child or children and family about the referral and seek agreement to proceed.

Parents are also expected to have completed Planning Together for Children if they have not already done so.

The service is intended to be short.

Cafcass expressly warns that referrals are not designed to remain open for long periods because of work, holidays or other delays.

Parents may also be required to travel up to approximately one hour each way.

What happens during Enabling Family Time?

Cafcass says the service will typically involve:

• up to three sessions;
• approximately 90 minutes per session;
• usually one session each week;
• in-person sessions unless the FCA specifically requests virtual sessions;
• and a trained family-time worker being present.

The venue might be:

• a NACCC-accredited family centre;
• a park;
• a library;
• a play area;
• or another suitable agreed location.

Before the first session, the worker may speak to the child, parents or other relevant adult, discuss adjustments and explain how the sessions will operate.

The family-time worker’s role during the session includes:

• supporting the child;
• listening to their wishes and feelings;
• observing interactions;
• helping the session where necessary;
• and recording factual, evidence-based notes.

This is important.

The worker is not simply supervising a handover.

What occurs during the session may become information available to Cafcass.

Are notes made about Enabling Family Time sessions?

Yes.

Cafcass says session notes are sent to the Family Court Adviser within two working days.

The stated purpose is to provide a neutral and factual account of what happened.

Those notes are not usually supplied automatically to the family or third parties.

Cafcass says requests for them should be made through the FCA rather than directly to the family-time worker.

That makes the notes potentially important evidence.

They may record matters such as:

• whether the child attended;
• how the session began;
• observable interaction;
• what activities took place;
• how the child presented;
• whether support or intervention was required;
• and any concerns which arose.

But there is an essential distinction between observation and interpretation.

For example:

The observations may be relevant.

The conclusions do not automatically follow.

One short observed session should not be treated as though it explains the whole history of a child’s relationships.

Can Enabling Family Time affect what the court decides?

Potentially, yes.

Cafcass states that after the sessions the FCA will update the court about how they went and that this information will help the court make decisions about future family-time arrangements.

That does not mean the family-time worker decides the case.

They do not.

Nor does a positive session automatically mean unrestricted contact should follow.

Equally, a difficult first session after a long period without contact does not automatically demonstrate that the relationship should end.

The court remains responsible for deciding the application in accordance with the child’s welfare.

The significance of the sessions therefore depends upon the wider evidence.

That may include:

• previous court orders;
• findings of fact;
• Cafcass assessments;
• the Child Impact Report or section 7 report;
• the child’s wishes and feelings;
• domestic-abuse evidence;
• the history of contact;
• professional records;
• and what happens before, during and after the sessions.

The most important safeguarding point: Enabling Family Time is not a fresh risk assessment

This deserves particular attention.

Cafcass expressly states that family-time workers do not assess or reassess concerns such as domestic abuse.

Its guidance says that by the time the case reaches the Enabling Family Time stage, risk and concerns should already have been considered and the arrangements deemed safe.

That creates an important safeguard — but also an important procedural question.

What if relevant safeguarding information has changed?

For example:

• a new incident has occurred;
• a new police disclosure has been received;
• the child has made a new disclosure;
• a protective order has been made;
• new medical or school evidence has emerged;
• or information used in the original risk assessment was materially incomplete.

That should not simply be saved up for the next hearing.

It may need to be raised promptly with the FCA and, depending upon the circumstances and existing directions, with the court.

A positive contact session does not erase domestic abuse

This point is particularly important where there has been domestic abuse.

A child may enjoy spending time with a parent who has perpetrated abuse.

A child may love that parent.

Both things can coexist with safeguarding concerns.

Likewise, a child may initially appear anxious during contact for many possible reasons.

The observation itself may be important.

But the explanation needs care.

Family proceedings involving domestic abuse remain subject to the court’s safeguarding responsibilities and, where applicable, Practice Direction 12J.

The relevant question is not simply:

“Did the contact go well?”

It may also be:

• Was the arrangement safe?
• What was the child’s experience?
• What happened before and after the session?
• Is there an established pattern of abuse?
• Are protective measures still required?
• Can future arrangements operate without exposing the child or protective parent to further harm?

A contact observation is evidence.

It is not the entire welfare assessment.

What if the child says they do not want to go?

This is one of the hardest situations families face.

Cafcass’s child-facing guidance says children can tell the family-time worker how they feel, ask for a break and leave a session if they want to.

That reflects the child-focused nature of the service.

But a child’s reluctance should not automatically be converted into a simplistic conclusion about why they feel that way.

Depending on the case, reluctance may relate to:

• fear;
• previous harmful experiences;
• the length of time since contact;
• loyalty conflict;
• parental conflict;
• anxiety about the unfamiliar setting;
• pressure or influence;
• a child’s developmental needs;
• or a combination of factors.

The task for professionals is to understand the child’s experience, not simply attach a label to it.

And for parents, this is rarely the moment to interrogate the child or repeatedly ask them what they told Cafcass.

Children should not be made responsible for managing the litigation between the adults around them.

How should a parent prepare for an Enabling Family Time session?

The temptation is to treat the session as an assessment you must “pass”.

That mindset can make the interaction unnatural.

A better approach is simpler.

Keep the focus on the child

The purpose of the session is not to demonstrate how wrong the other parent is.

It is an opportunity for the child to spend safe, supported time with you.

Do not question the child about the proceedings

Avoid turning family time into evidence gathering.

Do not criticise the other parent

Even where you have serious concerns, the contact session is not the place to litigate them through the child.

Follow the provider’s rules

That may include rules about gifts, food, photographs, other adults attending and activities.

Think about the child’s age and interests

After a long separation, trying too hard can be as uncomfortable as doing too little.

Expect emotion

A child may be excited, quiet, angry, affectionate, nervous or several of those things during one session.

Do not force the moment to prove something.

Give the child room to reconnect at their own pace.

What happens after the sessions?

After each session, the provider sends its notes to the FCA.

After the Enabling Family Time work concludes, the FCA can update the court about how the sessions went.

Cafcass’s child-facing information also indicates that the FCA is likely to speak again with the child and adults before reporting back to the court.

The next stage will depend on the individual case.

Possible outcomes might include consideration of:

• continuing the existing arrangements;
• progressing family time;
• further supported arrangements;
• different safeguards;
• further assessment;
• or another welfare recommendation.

Those are not automatic outcomes.

The court decides what order, if any, should ultimately be made.

Cafcass also says that where both the family and FCA consider further sessions helpful, additional family time may be arranged directly with the provider on a self-funding basis.

What if the session notes or Cafcass account are wrong?

Do not respond to every disagreement as though it proves professional misconduct.

Start with precision.

Ask:

1. What exactly does the note say?
2. What do I say actually happened?
3. Is the difference factual or interpretative?
4. What evidence supports my correction?
5. Does the difference materially affect the welfare analysis?

For example:

Weak response:

“The report is completely biased and full of lies.”

More useful response:

“The note records that I arrived 20 minutes late. My arrival was 10:02 for a 10:00 session. The centre’s reception sign-in record should confirm this. I raise the point because the later Cafcass analysis refers to repeated lateness as evidence of unreliable engagement.”

The second response gives the professional or court something capable of being checked.

That is usually much more effective.

Put Enabling Family Time into the wider chronology

If contact has been disrupted for a significant period, the sessions should not sit in isolation.

A chronology might show:

This allows the court to see the sessions in context rather than treating three snapshots as though they represent the whole family history.

Can AI help you analyse Enabling Family Time records?

Yes — particularly where there is already a substantial history.

AI can assist with tasks such as:

• putting events into date order;
• comparing session notes;
• identifying factual inconsistencies;
• extracting observations attributed to the child;
• distinguishing observations from professional interpretations;
• comparing the notes with a Cafcass report;
• and preparing a draft chronology.

But AI should not be asked to decide:

• whether the child was genuinely frightened;
• whether somebody has manipulated the child;
• whether domestic abuse occurred;
• whether a parent poses a risk;
• or what contact order the court should make.

Those are evidential and welfare questions requiring human judgment.

The JSH Law six-question check for an Enabling Family Time dispute

If a session or subsequent Cafcass report becomes important in your proceedings, work through these questions:

Three sessions can matter — but they are still three sessions

Enabling Family Time has an understandable purpose.

When a child’s relationship with a parent has been interrupted, a safe and structured opportunity to reconnect may be enormously valuable.

It can also give Cafcass information which cannot be obtained simply by interviewing the adults.

But the evidence needs to be treated proportionately.

A child is not an experiment.

A family-time session is not a fact-finding hearing.

A worker’s observation is not automatically a diagnosis.

A positive session does not erase established safeguarding concerns.

A difficult session does not automatically prove that a relationship should end.

And where a child has been separated from a parent for a substantial period, the history of how that separation occurred may remain highly relevant.

The question should not be whether one parent “passed” the contact session. The question is what the evidence, viewed as a whole, tells the court about safe and beneficial arrangements for this child.

Has Cafcass recommended Enabling Family Time in your case?

If contact has stopped or your child’s relationship with you is being rebuilt through Cafcass, the surrounding evidence can become difficult to organise — particularly where there is a long history, safeguarding concerns or disagreement about what professionals have recorded.

JSH Law provides defined-scope, non-reserved support for litigants in person, including:

• reviewing Cafcass and family-time records;
• evidence organisation and evidence matrices;
• contact chronologies;
• responses to Cafcass reports;
• witness-statement preparation support;
• position statements;
• domestic-abuse and safeguarding evidence mapping;
• urgent court documents;
• appeal paperwork;
• bundle preparation support;
• and hearing preparation and McKenzie Friend support.

The aim is not to turn every contact session into another dispute. It is to make sure the court can see the relevant evidence accurately, proportionately and in context.

Book a consultation

Primary sources and further reading

• Cafcass — Enabling Family Time: guidance for parents, carers and family members.
• Cafcass — Enabling Family Time: guide for children and young people.
• Cafcass — Improving Child and Family Arrangements: notice confirming transition to Enabling Family Time.
• Cafcass — Child Focused Courts and private law reform.
• Children Act 1989 — section 1 and the welfare principle.
• Family Procedure Rules — Practice Direction 12J where domestic abuse and harm are relevant.