Family legal services

When this family was referred through, the mMother and father had been separated for 2 years. There are 3 children. The 2 older teenage boys live with the father and the 3 year old daughter lives with the mother.

It had been 2 years since the father has seen his youngest daughter and the boys have seen their sister.

The order was for the father and 2 older brothers to have contact for 1 hour for 3 consecutive weeks to ‘kick start’ the contact in a safe and warm and supported environment.

Both parents were keen to put the child first. Mum prepared her daughter for contact by ensuring that she knew where she would be during contact and that she wasn’t to worry about her. She appreciated that she would be excitable and apprehensive about the sessions and she showed encouragement throughout.

Dad and the 2 brothers were very emotional when meeting up again but after hugs and tears they settled down to play Jenga for over an hour.  Dad also stressed that the child would see him and his brothers again next week and to go back to mum when the session was over even although the little girl was visibly upset at leaving her newly acquainted family.

All 3 sessions were attended and the handovers were very smooth due to the parents’ attitude and contact has now been continued in the community on a regular basis.