MARAC Meeting. Children's services

[Pebbledashery]

Hi all.
A referral was made onto MARAC for my DD and I following fleeing awful domestic abuse and child abuse.. The meeting will be happening in a few weeks. This is the 4th time we've been referred to MARAC... If you've followed any of my previous threads you know I'm currently going through the family court with the abuser.. Against the very strong recommendations from cafcass.. He's been given interim supervised contact in a contact centre.. I can't say too much as the details are very outing.. But after the first session there was an incident outside the contact centre between us.. That's where the Marac referral has come from..
This week I've spoken to various agencies.. Including children's services as my DD was placed on a child in need plan.. Children's services will be at the MARAC meeting.. What I wanted to ask is if Children Services are allowed to make any kind of comments on whether this interim contact is safe/inappropriate and puts us at risk. I know ultimately its matter for the Court.. But would any kind of input from them about the risk of harm to us.. at the MARAC meeting be valuable towards our case?

I work in an agency that contributes to Marac (not children's/ social servs unfortunately).As far as I'm aware, all agencies who have input will provide their viewpoint from the perspective of the agency they represent.
As children's services represent the child,then yes, their opinion will be noted. Harm to the adults in the family, I'm assuming would be assessed by social services/ idva's/ police/ cmht/ NHS

@wizzywig thank you for replying..
I spoke to a social worker yesterday and she's given me her number if i could think of anything else.. My idva said i should mention it to them. The police also called me this week too and said they'll make an application for an anti stalking prevention order also..
I just don't think we'll ever be safe from him.

A representative from my daughters nursery is going to be there also.

Could the police add a sig marker to your house?

@wizzywig yes I have one now. Plus a marker on my number. What would normally happen after the Marac?
I'm quite anxious about the fact the referral was accepted.. I'm guessing that we're still seen as high risk 😔

Marac is there to protect you and children from harm not to penalise you in anyway. Your IDVA is your representative in the MARAC and should be speaking in your behalf. I've never known a nursery attend a MARAC. They attend strategy discussions to decide risk of harm but not MARACS usually. Children services will have an equal say as will police, IDVA, housing, probation and health reps. They will briefly talk about the case, the recent events that brought about another referral and plan any other safety measures they can put in place for you and your children. They will not be blaming you or seeking to make anything more difficult for you. The court may ask to see MARAC evidence but it's not a given. Hope that helps

Thank you. That's positive. The social worker did say to me that she didn't feel this was safe for him to be currently having contact.. I've submitted two Marac letters as evidence. The police officer I spoke to earlier couldn't believe the domestic history between my ex and I.. She said it just went on and on and on :-(

It sounds like the latest incident has been the catalyst for the new referral into MARAC. As others have said I see it as recognition that one or more of the agencies has concerns about risk/potential risk, I don’t think they can explicitly advise the court but clearly any action a statutory agency takes to limit risk attributable to him will help evidence your case.

I hope so. I know that MARAC meetings are only for the most serious of cases aren't that? all domestic abuse is serious.. but I know they have to reach a certain threshold to get there?

Hi, I refer all DV cases into Marac regardless of how long ago it occured, the severity (because who am I to judge the impact of any type of violence on a victim?). It can be a case of information sharing or info sharing plus strategy is out forward. Please don't think that it's a bad thing you are being heard at a Marac. The aim is protection of the victim.

I'm guessing nursery are involved as they are an education provider.

Thank you. I know that there's been some threats to further harm me. I can't say too much as it's outing but there has been threats from him. I know it'll be ok. From the first Marac we had were assigned a social worker so I know they are there to help.