“Errors in judgement persist with terrible consequences for child and adult victims”, CAFCASS Domestic Abuse Practice Policy 2024
Domestic abuse remains a significant concern in family court cases, with 40% of private law cases involving domestic abuse allegations. The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS), through Family Court Advisors (FCAs), plays a crucial role in analysing children’s needs in these cases. However, CAFCASS’s past practices have drawn criticism for failing to adequately protect survivors of abuse. The 2020 Harm Panel Report underscored this failure, stating:
FCAs and Children’s Guardians are not sufficiently resourced or trained [and] they prioritise children spending time with a parent, even when a child says they don’t want to.
In October 2024, CAFCASS released a new Domestic Abuse Practice Policy. Its own introduction to the Policy contains a stark indictment of some current CAFCASS practices: This article explores its key changes, highlighting how they address past shortcomings and laying the groundwork for a trauma-informed, safety-focused approach in family court cases.
The Old Approach: A Culture of Minimisation
CAFCASS’s 2021 Domestic Abuse Practice Pathway emphasized identifying the “primary perpetrator” and exploring bi-directional abuse, often shifting focus to the victim’s role in the dynamics of abuse. Terms like “recovery” and “resilience” overlooked the long-term trauma experienced by children and survivors, framing abuse as a momentary issue rather than a lasting concern. This approach perpetuated a harmful narrative, placing responsibility on survivors to mitigate risks posed by perpetrators.
The New Policy: Key Changes
The 2024 Domestic Abuse Practice Policy reflects a stronger understanding of abuse dynamics, aligning with legislative developments such as the Domestic Abuse Act 2021. Here are the key updates:
1. Perpetrator Accountability
The new policy emphasizes that ‘spending time with’ arrangements must hinge on a perpetrator’s acknowledgment of their abusive behaviour and sustained efforts to change. Practitioners are advised to avoid recommending contact unless there is clear evidence that:
- The perpetrator acknowledges the harm caused.
- They have taken meaningful steps to change their behaviour.
- Risk of future harm has been demonstrably eliminated.
2. Trauma-Informed Language
The policy advocates for survivor-sensitive language. Practitioners are encouraged to:
- Use survivors’ own words rather than summaries.
- Avoid minimising abuse as “historical” or isolated.
- Refrain from using the term “allege,” recognizing that courts, not CAFCASS, determine facts.
3. Acknowledgment of Long-Term Trauma
The new policy explicitly acknowledges that the impact of abuse is enduring, not easily resolved through resilience or recovery. Practitioners must weigh the safety and mental health of survivor parents in their assessments, ensuring these factors heavily influence recommendations to the court.
4. Mental Health Context
The policy cautions against misinterpreting a survivor’s mental health struggles as weaknesses, emphasising that trauma responses such as anxiety and fear are natural consequences of abuse. This counters a common defence used by perpetrators to discredit survivors.
5. Prioritising Safety Over Contact
CAFCASS officers are instructed to avoid arrangements that place survivors in danger. For instance:
- Survivors should not be required to supervise contact sessions.
- Contact should never be recommended if survivors and children are living in refuges.
6. Focus on the Child’s Experience
When children refuse to see a parent, practitioners must first explore whether this stems from abuse or harmful parenting, rather than defaulting to accusations of “parental alienation” by the survivor. This reframes the issue around the child’s lived experiences rather than questioning the survivor parent’s abilities and credibility.
Challenges and Concerns
While the updated policy is a step in the right direction, questions remain about its practical implementation:
- The 2024 Pathway contains few changes from that of 2021, and if this is the guidance used by FCAs when compiling their reports then one has to question whether the Policy is truly a reflection of the intended direction of travel or mere words that will bear little reality to the organisation’s reports.
- Will the Judiciary be on board with recommendations made in line with the new Policy? Have judges received trauma-informed training themselves? Will they agree with the starting-points?
A Long Road Ahead
The introduction of starting points in FCA recommendations marks a shift toward greater scrutiny of risks posed by perpetrators. However, survivors still face a challenging journey through the court process, which often retraumatises them. The new CAFCASS policy is a critical first step, but much remains to be done to ensure family courts prioritise safety over contact and truly support survivors.
By fostering trauma-informed training and reinforcing accountability for abusive behaviour, CAFCASS has an opportunity to reshape its role in family law cases, potentially transforming the experience of survivor adults and children navigating the legal system.
Holly Broadley
Senior Fundraising Officer (Corporate Partnerships) and former family law barrister
October 2024