MARAC, social services and Cafcass — who they are and what to do if they get it wrong

What it is

MARAC stands for Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference. It is a meeting where police, health, housing, probation, refuge services and an IDVA sit round a table and share information about the highest-risk domestic abuse cases, to make one safety plan.

• You are usually referred after a DASH risk assessment scores you as high risk, or because a professional is seriously worried, or because there have been repeat incidents.
• You do not attend. Your IDVA speaks for you and brings your views into the room.
• The meeting lasts minutes per case. It produces actions with names against them — for example fitting a door alarm, flagging your address to police control, prioritising rehousing.
• Your consent is not always needed for information to be shared where there is a risk to life, but you should be told it is happening.

If MARAC is not helping

• Ask your IDVA to request a re-referral with the new incidents listed.
• Ask for the MARAC actions in writing and chase the named agency directly if an action is not done.
• If there is no IDVA, ask police, your GP, housing or a refuge service to make the referral — any of them can.
• Escalate to the MARAC coordinator (usually within the local authority or police) if referrals are refused.

What they do

They assess whether your children are safe and whether the family needs help. Domestic abuse is a child protection issue in its own right.

• Section 17 — 'child in need': support and services, voluntary.
• Section 47 — enquiries where there is a risk of significant harm. This may lead to a child protection conference and a plan.
• A child protection plan names what has to change, by when, and who is responsible.
• You can bring a supporter or advocate to meetings, and you should get the reports in advance.

When they blame you instead of him

The most common complaint survivors make is being told they are 'failing to protect' while nothing is asked of the person causing the harm. That is a recognised failure of practice, and you can say so in those words.

• Ask, in writing, what work is being done directly with the person causing the harm, and for that to be recorded.
• Ask for the assessment to reflect s.3 Domestic Abuse Act 2021 — your child is a victim of his behaviour, not of yours.
• Ask for the record to be corrected where it is factually wrong, and put your own written response on the file.
• Ask for a change of social worker or a second opinion if the relationship has broken down.
• Request the records held about you under the UK GDPR (a subject access request). You are entitled to see what is written about you, with some redactions.

How to challenge them

• 1. Raise it with the social worker, then the team manager, in writing.
• 2. Use the statutory children's services complaints procedure — three stages, ending in an independent review panel.
• 3. Then the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.
• 4. If a decision is unlawful, irrational or made unfairly, judicial review in the Administrative Court — strict time limit, normally within three months, so get advice fast.
• 5. Complain to the regulator about a specific social worker: Social Work England.
• 6. If your human rights are engaged, a claim under the Human Rights Act 1998 (Articles 3, 6 and 8) can be brought alongside.

What they do

Cafcass (Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service) advises the family court about what is safe and best for your children. In Wales it is Cafcass Cymru.

• Safeguarding letter: a short letter to the court after phone calls and police/local authority checks, before the first hearing.
• Section 7 report: a fuller report where the court asks for recommendations about living and contact arrangements.
• A Family Court Adviser may speak to your children, depending on age.
• Cafcass does not decide anything. The judge does. Their recommendation is evidence, and it can be challenged.

If Cafcass is not recognising the abuse

• Write to the Family Court Adviser listing the specific evidence you say has been left out, with dates.
• Ask the court, in writing or at the hearing, for a fact-finding hearing under PD12J so the allegations are actually decided.
• Point out where the report treats a pattern of coercive control as 'conflict between the parents' — that framing is the thing to challenge.
• You can file a statement in reply to the report. You do not have to accept it silently.
• You can ask the court's permission to question the author of the report at the hearing.
• Use the Cafcass complaints procedure (three stages), then the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman via your MP.
• Ask the court for a different adviser, or for an independent social worker, if there is a real reason.