.uk
The Centre for Separated Families
About
The Centre for Separated Families is a national charity (established in 1973) that works with everyone affected by family separation in order to bring about better outcomes for children.
Our services are available to parents who are caring for their children alone, those who are sharing care and those who have no contact with their children, an anyone else with concerns about family separation.
Evidence from many studies suggests that children adjust to life after family separation more successfully when they are able to have ongoing relationships with both of their parents. However, we recognise that parents often need help to achieve this. We believe that traditional services which are based around supporting a ‘lone parent’ fail to help families to make the transition. Our programmes have, therefore, been developed to help parents to form cooperative post separation relationships that put the needs of their children first.
The Centre delivers information and advice by telephone, email and through its website.
The Centre also works with other professionals to help them to work in gender aware ways and to recognise the different experiences of mothers and fathers after family separation in order to help them to respond to those different needs appropriately.
The Centre has recently trained the staff working at the Child Maintenance Options call centre and its ‘face to face’ service to enable the Commission to deliver a service that assists parents to make their own arrangements for maintenance. It is now training all of the Child Maintenance Commission’s managers.
The training is designed to make the service gender aware, accessible, empathic and empowering.
Funding
The Centre for Separated Families is funded through grants from charitable trusts and income earned through the sale of training.
Government support in the United Kingdom
The UK government provides very little support to separated families except some additional welfare benefits for the parent who has the majority day-to-day care for the children. It also provides a child maintenance calculation and collection service for those who choose to use it (some parents are historically obliged to use this service).
Parents have recourse to the courts where they are unable to make arrangements about their children after divorce or separation. The court service that is charged with looking after children’s interests through the court process is known as Cafcass.
Non government support in the United Kingdom
Services for people experiencing divorce or family separation in the UK are usually based around supporting one or other parent and are based around the notion of ‘parental rights’.
There are a number of national, regional and local organisations that provide support and information to parents on poverty, parental rights, housing etc
Legislation in the United Kingdom
The Children Act 1989 states that ‘When a court determines any question with respect to (a) the upbringing of a child; or (b) the administration of a child’s property or the application of any income arising from it, the child’s welfare shall be the court’s paramount consideration.’
Child Maintenance and Other Payments Act 2008 deals with child maintenance and established the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission. The Commission’s main objective is ‘to maximise the number of those children who live apart from one or both of their parents for whom effective maintenance arrangements are in place.’
Useful links
Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission
http://www.childmaintenance.org/
Child Maintenance Options
http://www.cmoptions.org/
Cafcass
http://www.cafcass.gov.uk/
DirectGov
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Parents/FamilyIssuesAndTheLaw/index.htm
Jewish Unity for Multiple Parenting
JUMP is a voluntary Jewish support and lobby group that aims to assist with better parenting time arrangements for the non-resident parent to see their children following difficulties after the breakdown of their relationship with their former partner.
What We Do
JUMP strives to improve parent-child relationships from a religious, social and legal perspective for those parents who find themselves in this heartbreaking situation. Essentially, the aim is for both parents to be recognised as having equal responsibility for their children which is fully supported throughout all areas of the Jewish Community.
JUMP has developed helpful relationships with a number of Rabbis and social, medical and legal representatives to obtain as much support and guidance for the group’s initiatives.
© The European Network on Shared Parenthood (2009)
