The role of Small and/or Specialist Services in an effective Multi-Agency Response

Through our engagements with professionals involved in multi-agency systems across Scotland, we have been hearing about inconsistencies in the response to cases that involve victims from marginalised communities, and those who experience additional barriers to accessing support. SafeLives’ Marac dataset suggests that Black and other racially minoritised victims, LGBT+ victims, male victims and disabled victims are all currently underrepresented at Scottish Maracs. We want to understand this underrepresentation. We also want to know how multi-agency systems are understood and experienced both by professionals and victims.

To develop our understanding, we engaged with small and/or specialist services who support victims and survivors from marginalised communities. Our engagement informs this report and the work on our wider engagement with victims and survivors who have been referred to Marac. This work is not a full picture of all practice, nor does it speak for all services, or victims. It does however reflect a range of expertise from small and/or specialist services, and their experience.

We consulted 15 small and/or specialist services through semi-structured interviews. Some of these services provide support for specific groups of victims, including for Black, Asian, and racially minoritised people; LGBT+ people; migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers; male survivors of domestic abuse and/or disabled people, and all provide support to those experiencing domestic abuse.

Aims of the consultation

  1. To understand what small and/or specialist services’ engagement with multi-agency systems, including Marac – and vice versa – looks like.
  2. To understand what the multi-agency system and Marac responses are to victims and survivors referred from small and/or specialist services.
  3. To understand whether the expertise of small and/or specialist services are recognised in multi-agency systems, including Marac
  4. To understand how Maracs ensure that victims and survivors from small and/or specialist services get a robust and appropriate response once a referral is made

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