Co-parenting

“fathers are not pursued if they fail to attend a case conference or seek support, whereas mothers are”

Co-parenting is where parents work together to raise a child even though they no longer live together. Co-parenting helps children to feel less anxious and confused and to understand that their mother and father respect each other and love them.

We are champions of co-parenting, if safe, because it delivers the best outcomes for children. We have seen fathers excluded from child protection services, leading to bad outcomes for the whole family and continuing cycles of abuse.  Fathers are frequently unaware that there is a child protection issue, and are seen as a problem to be managed, rather than essential to the solution.  Our experience is that enforcement is often counterintuitive and this is supported by reports of serious case reviews; fathers are not pursued if they fail to attend or seek support, whereas mothers are.