The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) was formed on 1st April 2001 as part of the Government's commitment to supporting families and children.
We do not operate an out of hours emergency helpline or service. If you have concerns about the safety and wellbeing of a child, please contact your local authority or the police.
Please note that Cafcass cannot give legal advice, information about specific cases to non-parties or advice on your personal circumstances.
Our work with children and families
Cafcass may be asked by the court to work with families in three main areas:
•Divorce and separation
•Care proceedings
•Adoption
Our National office address: Cafcass National Office, 3rd Floor, 21 Bloomsbury Street, London, WC1B 3HF
•Digitisation Service Royal Mail address: Cafcass has one Royal Mail address for the central receipt of court orders, returns from PNC checks and returns from local authority checks. This address is: Cafcass, PO BOX 4852, Slough, SL1 0DQ
Locations we operate in
Bristol - 0300 456 4000
Unit 9, Bristol, BS2 8QH
Services we Provide
Children and families
Overview
What we do
Cafcass has a statutory responsibility to ensure that children and young people are put first in family proceedings, that their voices are heard, the decisions made about them by courts are in their best interests and that they and their families are supported throughout the process. We operate within the law set by Parliament and under the rules and directions of the family courts.
Role of Cafcass
Cafcass’ role is to work with Children and Families in the family courts. The following list provides some examples of the types of cases we work with:
- Adoption (public law)
- Care Orders (public law)
- Emergency Protection Orders (public law)
- Residency and contact following divorce and separation (private law)
Where we do it
CAFCASS are a national organisation that offer support across the UK.
The main office for Avon and Somerset is Bristol:
Unit 9
York Court
Wilder Street
Bristol
BS2 8QH
How to access
To find out more about how to access this service please call: 0844 353 4332