The new domestic abuse practice policy
On 9th October Cafcass issued a new Domestic Abuse Practice Policy. This new Domestic Abuse Practice Policy sets out the practice requirements that Cafcass Family Court Advisers (FCAs) and Children’s Guardians must follow when advising the Court about the welfare of the child and the child’s best interests in protecting the child/children and adult victims of domestic abuse.
Why has this new policy been published?
In June 2020, the Harm Panel published a report, which set out concerns including that the family justice system does not effectively protect victims of domestic abuse because it is adversarial and that a ‘contact at all costs’ culture is prioritised.
The report further set out that FCA’s and Children’s Guardians are not adequately resourced or trained, that they prioritise children spending time with a parent, even when a child expresses that they do not want to. The report also illustrated that FCA recommendations to the Family Court do not draw on the advice of other professionals working with families during that time period.
In response, Cafcass established a national improvement programme that required all FCA’s and Children’s Guardians to undertake a compulsory learning and development programme, which gave guidance developed with specialist domestic abuse services and families with lived experience of domestic abuse. Two senior SafeLives domestic abuse experts joined Cafcass on secondment for two years to work alongside and support the improvement work.
Learning from audits, family feedback, complaints, critical legal judgements, and serious incidents shows that there has been progress and improvement but there is more to be achieved. Errors in judgement continue with extreme consequences for children and adult victims. This is the reason why a Domestic Abuse Practice Policy has been put in place. Every practitioner and manager is now required to verify that they have read and understood the policy and will incorporate it into their practice.
More about the specific provisions within the new policy
The new policy indicates that:
- FCAs and Children’s Guardians will stop using language such as ‘claims’ or ‘alleges’ in reports to the Court, and instead use the words of children and adults who are victims of domestic abuse. It is for the Court to determine the facts.
- The starting point for recommendations about a child spending time with a parent who is being investigated by the police for a sexual offence, who has a conviction for a sexual offence and/or who has served a prison sentence for violent and sexual offences is for that child not to spend time with the parent due to the significant risk of harm and the risk of further harm to the child victim, as well as the impact on the adult victim of the abuse; and
- FCAs and Children’s Guardians are required to provide clear, unambiguous, and compelling justifications in their reports to the Court if they do not adhere to the starting points set out in the policy and if in their assessment and analysis, they recommend ‘time with’ or ‘live with’ arrangements when domestic abuse is being investigated, has been found, is known or is raised by a child or adult.
The policy echoes the intentions of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, Practice Directions 12J, and 12Q to protect child and adult victims of domestic abuse. Cafcass has also updated its Child Safeguarding Policy to align with the requirements of the Domestic Abuse Practice Policy.
Cafcass Chief Executive, Jacky Tiotto said:
“No child or adult should have to live with or worry about the prospect of spending time with another adult who threatens, controls, abuses, and harms them. Sadly, many abusive adults apply to the family court to spend time or to live with their children despite causing them harm and being a risk of further harm to them in the future.
Family Court Advisers and Children’s Guardians are independently appointed by the family court. Cafcass is their employer and sets policy and standards. Together, we have a statutory responsibility and duty to safeguard children in proceedings and in so doing, to advise the family court on arrangements that protect them and the adult parent or family member with whom they live. Everyone at Cafcass wants to do this and to do it well.
When the advice put to the court, doesn’t get the balance right between the right of a child to have both parents in their lives and the risk of harm from that contact, when it doesn’t protect a child, when it isn’t in their best interests and when it puts their protective adult and carers in harms way, the consequences can be devastating.
This is why we continue to prioritise further improvement in working with child and adult victims of domestic abuse. It is why we have an internal improvement programme, why we are listening so hard to child and adult victims and public concerns. We are intent on eliminating practice that isn’t good enough.
I am sorry that some four years on from the Harm Panel report, there are still children and adults in family court proceedings who do not receive the protection they deserve and require. Family Court Advisers and Children’s Guardians work hard through their assessment and advice to court to protect many children and adults from harm every day. But for those for whom this isn’t so, it is not acceptable and we are determined to continue to improve and to strive to protect every child and adult in family proceedings. The new policy that we are publishing today is a very significant step to further improve the way, together as a system, we protect child and adult victims of domestic abuse.”
Comment
It is important that both children and adult victims of domestic abuse are protected at all costs during Children Act Proceedings. If you or anyone you know may be in the situation then we recommend that you seek independent legal advice to discuss your options.
How can we help?
Rina Mistry is a Senior Associate in our Family Law team, advising on a wide range of family law work, and in particular specialising in private children’s law, children matters and domestic abuse.
If you need further advice on the subjects discussed above, please contact us and we will be happy to discuss your circumstances in more detail and give you more information about the services that our family law solicitors can provide along with details of our hourly rates.
For more information or advice, please call Rina or another member of our team in Derby, Leicester or Nottingham on 0800 024 1976 or contact us via our online form.