E Mell
Cafcass National Office
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
3rd Floor
21 Bloomsbury Street
London
WC1B 3HF
Your ref: CAF 18-117
Our ref: Gov/CAF 18-117
Tel 0300 456 4000
06 November 2018
Dear E Mell
Re: Freedom of Information Request
Thank you for your email of 25 October 2018. You made the following requests for
information:
On your website - https://www.cafcass.gov.uk - you have published a tool under the
section
-
https://www.cafcass.gov.uk/grown-ups/professionals/ciaf/resources-for-
assessing-harmful-conflict/ - which is called the 'Distinguishing domestic abuse and
harmful conflict screening tool'.
Can you please provide the following:
1. The training documentation that is provided to your FCAs in order that they can
use this screening tool as part of their professional assessment?
Cafcass does not have training specifically on the Distinguishing domestic abuse and
harmful conflict screening tool.
Cafcass has brief guidance for staff on the use of each tool. These can be seen on
our
website next to the link to each individual tool.
Guidance for the use and choice of tools which are relevant to individual case is set
out in the Cafca
ss Operating Framework section 10.
Cafcass is now commencing mandatory training for private law Family Court Advisers
(FCAs) about use of the Child Impact Assessment Framework (CIAF). Training will
take place across the country between October 2018 and March 2019. We are aiming
to ensure that all FCAs have received training by April 2019. This training includes
Edward Timpson CBE Chair
Anthony Douglas CBE Chief Executive
Cafcass, the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service, is a non-departmental body of the Ministry of Justice
Cafcass National Office, 3rd Floor, 21 Bloomsbury Street, London, WC1B 3HF
some brief guidance on the Distinguishing domestic abuse and harmful conflict
screening tool. Please find a copy of the training attached. The slides on the
‘Distinguishing domestic abuse and harmful conflict screening tool’ are slides 18 – 20.
2. The evaluation criteria that are applied by your FCAs to the screening tool, and the
data contained therein, once their professional assessment has been completed?
Cafcass does not have evaluation criteria that should be applied by FCAs when using
the Distinguishing domestic abuse and harmful conflict screening tool.
The tool itself lists the indicators of domestic abuse and harmful conflict which FCAs
should record if they are present in the case. As stated in the tool, ‘where cases
contain characteristics of both, it is strongly advised to proceed with an assessment
using the domestic abuse tools and guidance first as this will ensure you are able to
explore the pattern of behaviours in the safest context.’
As stated in the guidance for the tool on our
website: ‘this tool is designed to be used
early in the life of a case to assist the FCA in deciding which will be of most
assistance in their assessment: the blue domestic abuse tools and guidance or the
orange harmful conflict tools and guidance. It is not designed to be a diagnostic tool
in and of itself and does not replace professional judgement.’
We hope that you feel your question has been answered effectively. If you are unhappy with
the decisions made in relation to your request, you may ask for an internal review to be
undertaken. If you are dissatisfied with the way the internal review is handled or with the
final decision made at that review about the information released, you are free to contact the
Information Commissioner’s Office
(https://ico.org.uk/):
Post
Fax
Information Commissioner's Office
01625 524 510
Wycliffe House, Water Lane,
Tel
Wilmslow,
0303 123 1113
Cheshire
E-mail
SK9 5AF
xxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx
Yours sincerely,
Governance Team
Cafcass
xxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Edward Timpson CBE Chair
Anthony Douglas CBE Chief Executive
Cafcass, the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service, is a non-departmental body of the Ministry of Justice
Cafcass National Office, 3rd Floor, 21 Bloomsbury Street, London, WC1B 3HF
Edward Timpson CBE Chair
Anthony Douglas CBE Chief Executive
Cafcass, the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service, is a non-departmental body of the Ministry of Justice
Cafcass National Office, 3rd Floor, 21 Bloomsbury Street, London, WC1B 3HF