Mr. Andrew Murphy:

Access presents one of the higher levels of difficulty that we experience on the helpline. Some children have sibling access and grandparent access with lots of different access meetings to attend. Social workers have to co-ordinate that and foster carers have to respond to it. They have their own lives to arrange around all of that which can be very problematic, in particular where an increase is court ordered and has to be adhered to. Strains will be placed on every party in that relationship to achieve the access for the child. Access can be emotionally difficult for children who can have behavioural problems before and after access visits. That can place a great strain on everyone involved and the emotional labour can be difficult. Sometimes, we fail to take sufficient account of the emotional labour for everyone involved in those dynamics for children. It can be very stressful.