I work for the CSA and I sympathise with you

May 13, 2010

I’m a single parent with maintenance/access issues who also works for the CSA.

I’m sorry to say that,whilst I have a lot of sympathy with non-resident parents on the issue of shared(overnight)-care, I also know that the CSA is not the bad guy-it’s the legislation we’re working with. This is a big issue for organisations that represent non-resident (usually fathers) parents. By focusing on the CSA they’re missing the point.

They should be going to their MPs to get the law changed. I know that loads of people working for the CSA feel terrible when they have to tell parents what they can and can’t do and loads think the whole ‘shared care’ thing should be abolished because of the problems it causes and the children it affects.

The next time you get an ‘unsympathetic’ CSA worker on the phone remember this: we are not allowed to sympathise with customers, we are not allowed to give opinions, we cannot reveal our own circumstances, we have to adhere to the legislation. I’ve had loads of calls where I’ve had people saying to me: ‘You don’t know what it’s like to be denied access to your kids’ or ‘It’s OK for you you’re a woman and the CSA is biased towards women’ Wrong on both counts! I’m a female NRP who has not seen her son for months.

I left the marital home because of my husband’s extreme violence. I left him with everything except the overnight bag I packed. He’s told my son I left because I didn’t love him, I have no family and had nowhere to take him apart from a LA B&B. I’ve applied for Legal Aid but don’t know if I’ll get it because I earn £14.750 per year.

My husband has also started a CSA case against me with which I’ll co-operate. As a CSA employee I can say that most of the time the decisions taken are correct according to the legislation. Unfortunately there are solicitors,voluntary organisations and even CABs giving very poor advice.

Comments

  • chall says:

    Hi Martina,

    Read your comments. Maybe you would be good enough to confirm those to which you refer that give ‘very poor advice’.

    You have completely forgotten to comment on actual problems that a lot of parents (PWC & NRP) find themselves up against with the agency – legislation is not always the main issue…

    Agency/ official maladministration, delays and poor OR incorrect OR conflicting advice from agency staff are main areas that the agency drastically need to improve.

    – there is a huge difference between an ‘unsympathetic’ casework and one thats just damn right rude!

    chall ~ afairercsaforall

  • Michael says:

    I would just like to add that you go on about legislation but how can advice be taken from someone who leaves their children to live with a violent person. It in not normal for this to happen.

  • Steve says:

    In response to Micheal, every situation is different, my partner suffered serious abuse and violence at the hands of her ex husband who still tries to bully and intimidate her to this day with threats passed via the children (he’s a lovely human being) and abusive phone calls. She went to court to rid herself of this waste of space and ended up homeless because she would not have him prosecuted for the violence he commited as he would have lost his job and been unable to provide for the children. You also have to appreciate how bullying some people can be and if you have become used to being a victim, how hard it is to break that habit. As the court ruled that unless a prosecution took place he could return to the marital home she had no choice but leave. The children are all over 13 and one is an adult at 20, he knows he cannot commit violence to them as he would then lose everything and he is driven only by possesions and money, as with all bullies he only picks on the weak and those unable to defend themselves. You should not presume to make comments like the one above without the full picture which you cannot possibly have from a small entry in an internet forum, I am no fan of the CSA but I would not condem any parent for being absent without knowing the full story.

  • T. Wheeler says:

    Trying desperately to imagine a situation where I’d leave
    my son, violence or no violence. You left your child with a violent
    man? You sound about right to work for the CSA, someone who doesn’t
    give a toss about what’s best for a child.

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