Marac toolkit for family intervention projects

This practical toolkit has been created to support family intervention project (FIP) professionals to:

• understand how the Marac process works and the role their agency plays at the meeting
• make effective referrals to Marac using the Dash risk identification checklist
• prepare for attending a Marac meeting.

The FIP representative’s role at Marac is to represent the views of your family members at the meeting, to share information relating to the safety of family members and to liaise with partner agencies to ensure that the right services coordinate a response to a family.

This toolkit includes the practical tools referred to in our training course for FIP professionals. We hope that you can use it whenever you become aware of domestic abuse within a family. It contains tools to use with victims of domestic abuse to assist them in recognising the dynamics of power and control, some reminders around improving safety as you work with perpetrators, a risk checklist to assist you in recognising high risk domestic abuse and tools to use as you work with clients who need to go through the Marac process.

Domestic abuse may be one of several issues involved in complex cases. We suggest that you consider using the risk checklist with every victim of domestic abuse you work with. However, as FIP key workers you will need to consider carefully which tools are relevant for your families and consider the victim’s safety as and when you use them.

What’s included

• Introduction
• Frequently asked questions about Marac
• FIPs and domestic abuse – a care pathway
• Power and control wheel
• Equality wheel
• Power and control wheel (adjusted for Muslim clients)
• Power and control wheel (adjust for LGBT clients)
• Working with perpetrators
• Flowchart on the Marac process
• Quick start guidance to the SafeLives Dash risk identification checklist, as well as the checklist itself
• Marac referral form
• Research form for Marac
• Contact details form for Marac representatives