Cafcass has issued a new domestic abuse policy to tackle practice deficits that remain four years after it was severely criticised in a government-commissioned report.
It said it had made progress since a panel investigating the family courts' response to domestic abuse and other harms found practitioners' court reports gave limited weight to children’s views, particularly when they said they did not want to spend time with an abusive parent.
Following the 2020 report, Cafcass initiated a national improvement programme to improve its response to domestic abuse, particularly in private law cases involving separating parents, where practitioners make recommendations to the court about what is in the child's best interests.
The programme involved mandatory training for all family court advisers (FCAs) and children's guardians, personal learning plans on domestic abuse for all practitioners and regular practice audits on the issue. It has also received support from domestic abuse charity SafeLives, which has seconded two staff to Cafcass.
Practice improving but 'errors in judgment persist'
The second annual review of the improvement plan, published last year, said that, in most cases, FCAs understood "the harm, risk of harm and impact on children of domestic abuse and their analysis of this informs their recommendations to the court".However, Cafcass said the new policy was needed because "errors in judgment persist, with terrible consequences for child and adult victims", while chief executive Jacky Tiotto said it was "intent on eliminating practice that isn’t good enough".
The policy requires practitioners and managers "to listen to children and adults who have experienced domestic abuse and accurately record and share with the court what they have been told".
No more references to domestic abuse 'claims'
This includes not dismissing or minimising domestic abuse as historical or as a one-off incident. To do so "not only reveals a lack of understanding of the ongoing and long-term trauma of domestic abuse for victims but also perpetuates it", the policy says.Practitioners must also not "not reinterpret or reword the experience of domestic abuse victims", but use their words about what happened to them and the impact it has had, in all reports to the court. They must also not use the words "claims" or "alleges" when referring to reports of domestic abuse.
"To do so minimises and diminishes the experience of the adult and child living with the impact and trauma caused by abuse," the policy says, adding that it is for the court to determine the facts of any case.
Social workers must also not describe someone as anxious or suffering from mental ill-health, unless they have been clinically diagnosed, without considering that this may be a trauma response to abuse.
Recommendations around contact
The policy also includes several measures related to Cafcass social workers' recommendations to the court on children's contact with parents accused of abuse.It stipulates that practitioners' "starting point" should be to recommend that children do not spend time with a parent who is being investigated by the police for a sexual offence, has been convicted of such an offence or has served a prison sentence for violent or sexual offences.
Where practitioners depart from this starting point, this must be "supported by a compelling rationale, discussed with a manager, and recorded contemporaneously in the child’s case record".
More broadly, FCAs or guardians must provide "a clear, unequivocal, and compelling rationale in their reports" for discounting domestic abuse as a risk to the child when recommending contact after abuse has been reported by either parent or the child.
Assessing perpetrators
When assessing a parent who has been domestically abusive, practitioners must not recommend contact with the child and the other parent without clear evidence that the perpetrator:- Recognises the harm their behaviour has caused their victims.
- Has taken responsibility for the harm they have caused.
- Has taken action to sustain change in their attitude and to stop their harmful behaviour, which has been demonstrated over time.
As with sexual offences, any departure from this starting point must be supported by a compelling rationale, discussed with a manager, and recorded contemporaneously.
'Parental alienation'
The guidance also addresses cases where a child does not want to see a parent following separation and the non-resident alleges this is because of "parental alienation". This involves accusing the other parent of manipulating the child into holding negatives towards them.Cafcass has separate guidance on "alienating behaviours", which stresses that a practitioner's "first step" in such cases is to consider whether domestic abuse or other harmful parenting factors are present.
This is reflected in the domestic abuse policy, which says that practitioners must "first consider whether the cause of this refusal is because the child is a victim of domestic abuse and harmful parenting".
Objective of eliminating sub-standard practice
Launching the policy, Tiotto said: “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 harm's 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."
She added: “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."
Domestic Abuse Commissioner welcomes policy
Domestic Abuse Commissioner for England and Wales Nicole Jacobs welcomed the guidance, saying that it adopted a "child-centric approach", as she had urged in a 2023 report on the family courts.“I am pleased that the language in this policy has shifted to become more natural and appropriate in the context of children disclosing abuse," she added.
"Victims often tell me that the language professionals use to describe domestic abuse is hugely important to their wellbeing."
Elevating survivor voices in family court practice
For SafeLives, interim director of quality and innovation Emma Robinson said it had been working with Cafcass, including through the secondment of two staff, on "elevating survivor voices into family court practices".“Many survivors have shared that their experiences with family courts, including Cafcass, have been deeply traumatising, and impacted their ability to move forward," she added.
"Our role within Cafcass has been to support meaningful reflection and practical improvements, particularly around language and the introduction of the new domestic abuse practice policy, which we believe will lead to better outcomes for both children and adult victims of abuse."
She added that SafeLives welcomed Cafcass's "openness to collaboration and the positive response to the changes we are helping to implement".
