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Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Services (CAFCASS)CAFCASS looks after the interests of children involved in family proceedings. They work with children and their families, andthen advise the courts on what they consider to be in the best interests of individual children.It is independent of all agencies including the Courts and Child Services but operates under the rules and directions of theFamily Courts.Its role is to:• safeguard and promote the welfare of children• give advice to the Family Courts• make provision for children to be represented• provide information, advice and support to children and their familiesThere is a major discrepancy between the policy of CAFCASS and the actual implementation of how they tackle DV. AnOfsted (Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills) report on CAFCASS in 2009 criticised their lack ofeffectiveness, and mentioned in particular poor practice. Their inspection deemed that their services were inadequate in:• Greater London• North Yorkshire and Humberside• South Yorkshire• Cheshire and Merseyside• Far South West and Staffordshire and the MarchesOfsted noted that not even minimum standards were being met in these areas.Criticisms included:• families having to wait for far too long• inconsistent assessments• out of date and inaccurate information• safeguarding policies were not covering specialist services provided by the High Court>> Department of HealthThe Department of Health (DH) exists to improve the health and well-being of people in England.For all people, the DH aim to provide better:• health and well-being• care• valueThe DH definition of DV is that it is a term which:‘…refers to a wide range of physical, sexual, emotional and financial abuse between partners/ex-partners – whether or notthey are co-habiting.‘As well as the DH, there are individual Royal Colleges which provide guidance for more specialist parts of health work andwhich physicians of that discipline can join.P 61