Cymorth i Ferched Cymru
Children Matter
Protecting Children
from
Domestic Abuse
David Spicer, LLB,
Barrister
© David Spicer
Working Together
Inter-agency Co-operation
• 60 years from the first government
circular encouraging inter-agency
working (Dennis O’Neil) and 30 years
since detailed guidance (Maria Colwell ARCs to ACPCs).
Analysis of Serious Case
Reviews 2005-2007 (2009)
• Some of the worst failures of the
system have occurred when
professionals have lost sight of the
child and concentrated instead on their
relationship with the adults.
• From within the spectrum of interconnecting factors, one overarching
theme dominates – the enduring
problem of the child being ‘lost’.
Learning lessons from SCRs :
year 2 (Ofsted (2009))
• Distressing to read, for example, how
often nobody thought to ask a child
who was clearly unhappy what was
wrong.
Picture
• What is it like living in the household?
• 24 hours a day
• 7 days a week
• 52 weeks a year
Child Welfare Policy to Practice
Government Formulates Policy
▼
Legislation to Implement Policy
▼
Guidance to Assist Implementation of
Legislation
▼
Procedures/Protocols
▼
Practice
What are the legal, policy and
practice imperatives
underpinning a procedural
requirement?
What are they expected to
deliver?
Harm
• To reflect growing recognition of the
overlap between domestic abuse and
the abuse of children,
• Legal definition of “harm” within the
Children Act 1989 extended in 2002.
• To include seeing
or hearing the
ill-treatment of another person.
Research Driving Policy
Risk of abuse
• High proportion of children living with
domestic violence are themselves
being abused, either physically or
sexually, by the same perpetrator.
• 40 per cent of cases - Walby and Allen
(2004)
• In 90 per cent of incidents, children are
witnesses to the violence - Mullender et
al (2003, 2005)
Child witnesses to domestic
violence
• More aggressive and fearful;
• More often suffer from severe anxiety,
depression and other trauma-related
symptoms.
• Live with constant anxiety;
• May be at a higher risk of alcohol or drug
abuse;
• Experience cognitive problems or stressrelated ailments (headaches, rashes);
• Have difficulties in school.
• Silvern et al (1995) and Singer et al (1998).
Domestic Abuse and Family
Proceedings
• CAFCASS CYMRU research.
• 52% children in care had experienced
household with domestic violence.
• 51% care proceedings children had
experienced household with domestic
abuse.
• CAFCASS research.
• 67% private family law cases included
allegations of domestic violence.
Impact of
s28 Children Act 2004
Safeguarding Children is
Everyone’s Responsibility
Children Act 2004
Government expects:
• Radical and fundamental cultural change.
• Whole system change.
• Programme of fundamental reform.
• Step change in how safeguard and protect
children.
• Strengthening child protection.
• Involving transformation of children’s
services.
• Shift emphasis to prevention and early
intervention.
Arrangements to safeguard and
promote welfare s28
• List of public agencies.
s28 Duties
• Each person and body to whom this
section applies must make
arrangements for ensuring that—
• all their functions are discharged
having regard to the need to safeguard
and promote the welfare of children;
Safeguarding and Promoting
Welfare
• Duties include:
• Acquiring necessary information to
form judgments and shape services.
• Ensuring others have information
necessary to inform their judgements
and shape services.
• Knowing there should be a plan.
• Know what the plan is and part to play
in achieving objectives.
s28 Duties
• Each person and body to whom this
section applies must make
arrangements for ensuring that—
• If they make arrangements for any
person to provide any services – they
are provided having regard to the need
to safeguard and promote the welfare
of children .
Arrangements?
• Funding for services.
• Commissioning a service related to
individual children or adults.
• Any other arrangements for services.
Related to needs of particular
children?
• expectations of service should be clear;
• agency to be sufficiently informed
about the issues and background to
contribute effectively
• to the framework of services,
• to the formation of judgments and
making decisions,
• to ensure safety of its own staff.
Policy
Stop seeing ourselves as
working for different services –
But as different parts of a
single service for vulnerable
children
Stressful
• Risky.
• No room for lack of clarity or certainty about roles
and responsibilities.
• Or what is required to form judgments and make
decisions.
• Involvement of those who know.
• Relevant facts and expertise.
• Those who know what their contribution should be.
• Appropriate contributions to form sound judgments
• Focused and appropriate services
• For all the individuals that need them.
Serious Case Review
Serious Case Review
• Abuser routinely joined household of women
alone with children
• Assaulted and abused them.
• Abused mother of subject children.
• Never convicted for any of this.
• Lived next door to subject children.
• Known to social worker involved with
children there.
• Unknown to social worker for subject
children.
Serious Case Review
• Serious persistent neglect.
• Also persistent exposure to culture of
violence against their mother.
• Fled to Women’s Refuges.
• Mother contacted abuser.
• Lived together – more violence.
• This time involving serious assaults
and abuse of children.
Prison
• 3 years.
• Still no conviction for offences against
women.
Older Child
•
•
•
•
Aged 1 year and 10 months.
Described as “miserable”.
“grubby dirty and clingy”.
“dirty again”.
Younger Child
• Aged 2 years 11 months.
• Described as “his usual weary self”.
Systems
MAPPA
•
•
•
•
•
Assessment of risk.
Intelligence.
Where and who with.
Ensuring all who need to know do know.
Difficult.
Dangerous Times
• Christmas
• Holiday periods
• Weekends
• When services at their weakest.
Reaching Sound Judgements
• Reasonableness
•
• Properly reasoned.
• Taking account of all
relevant factors.
•
• Giving appropriate
weight.
•
• Considering all options /
alternatives.
• Keeping an open mind.
•
• Knowing and acting in
accordance with law.
•
• Considering relevant
guidance.
•
Knowing and applying
procedures or why
deviated.
Consulting
appropriately.
Acknowledging lack of
information or expertise
and its impact.
If provisional - what
more needed.
Human Rights
perspective
Accurate recording of
above
© 2006 David Spicer
Context
• Little training on the impact of
domestic abuse.
• Training tends to be around basic
awareness.
• There is a lack of training on how to
work with parental denial or resistance.
Involve the people who
know
Dr Henry Kempe
• “If you do not understand someone’s
behaviour, you do not have enough
history.”
Complexity
• May be increased by
• Emotional and mental health issues.
Serious Case Review
• Discussions suggested that when
children are referred to services, the
referral documentation may not be
completed and it is “not usual” for the
agencies to be informed fully about
concerns.
• Had Refuge staff known history of child
protection concerns, “they would have
been more aware and vigilant”.
Serious Case Review
• Level of risk of abuser not sufficiently
communicated.
• “Not uncommon” for Women’s Aid
groups to have poor communication
with social service departments, where
relevant information is not shared.
• Inappropriate reliance on Refuge as a
significant protective factor.
Involvement in processes
• Agency should be sufficiently involved
in inter agency processes
• To be appropriately informed and
• To ensure it contributes effectively.
• By information.
• And judgments and opinions.
Serious Case Review
• Information and opinions held by the Third
Sector agencies were not sufficiently taken
into account when judgments were formed
and decisions made.
• LA staff not sufficiently aware of the value of
ensuring a full contribution and involvement
of Third Sector agencies.
Specialist Expertise
• Extensive experience of women who
are traumatized,
• Who find it difficult to separate from the
inflictor of violence,
• Suffer from fear or inadequacy or
emotional or mental health difficulties
and
• Lack alternative choices.
Specialist Expertise
• Children and the impact upon them.
• Information and opinion on motivation.
• Witness attitudes and approach to the
children and children of others and other
victims.
• Awareness that most dangerous time can
be when women and children leave a
Refuge.
Specialist Expertise
• Predatory nature of abuser.
• Social, emotional and psychological
impact of violence upon women can
seriously affect their parenting
capacity.
Specialist Expertise
•
•
•
•
Victim capacity to lie.
Self deception.
Attract sympathy.
Inability to make decisions in own
interests or child’s interests.
• Loneliness.
• Lack of prospects.
Groupthink
“Groupthink”
• Tendency of groups to avoid
dissension is a hazard.
• (Janis (1982) Groupthink: psychological
studies of policy decisions and fiascos,
Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, second edn)
Conformity
• High level of conformity in case
conferences.
• Group leaders therefore have to
challenge themselves to encourage
dissent and be open to challenge,
sometimes even appointing a ‘devil’s
advocate’ to diminish this tendency.
(Corby 1987; Birchall and Hallett 1995; Farmer
and Owen1995) Working with child abuse,
Milton Keynes: Open University Press.)
“Honour” killings
Welsh Women’s Aid Website
• At least 12 women die each year in the
UK as a result of ‘honour’-based killing.
(Fawcett Society (2009))
AM v Local Authority and B-M
(2009) EWCA Civ 205
• Women formed relationship with man
outside her culture and had his
children.
AM v Local Authority and B-M
(2009) EWCA Civ 205
• “…. any identification of the children
concerned ran the risk of them
suffering serious physical harm. In my
judgment, that includes abduction and
even death.”
• History included murder of a baby.
• Foster parents moved house six times
to secure the safety of the children
from the mother’s extended family.
AM v Local Authority and B-M
(2009) EWCA Civ 205
• Remorseless pursuit of baby’s mother.
• Fleeing from domestic violence;
• Night clothes of child sprayed with
white spirit and her house set fire.
• Mother not identify brothers for fear of
reprisals;
• Grandfather believes death of baby
was an accident and the will of God.
AM v Local Authority and B-M
(2009) EWCA Civ 205
•
•
•
•
“these things have nothing to do with any
concept of honour known to … law.”
“… the time has surely come to re-think
the phrase “honour killings”.
This is “… to distort the word “honour”
to describe what is, in reality, sordid
criminal behaviour” and
“a refusal to acknowledge them as such”.
AM v Local Authority and B-M
(2009) EWCA Civ 205
• None of this, in my judgment, has
anything to do with any concept of
“honour” and all of it is manifestly
contrary to the best interests of
children.
Dangerous Men
Housing Policy
• Single men not within housing
priority groups.
• Join single women with children.
• Leads to more children being
exposed to violent men.
What will the protected
child look like?