The Family Justice System Young People’s Board was set up by Cafcass (Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service) in 2006 order to assist in ensuring that the family justice system remains focused on the children that are at the heart of the cases being dealt with by the Court. It is made up of 32 young people and children who have had experience of the family justice system or who are interested in the rights of children and the family courts.
The Board has released a list of its top 5 wishes for 2013:
- Cases don’t drag on and are always focused on our needs.
- There is more support when we just need to speak to someone.
- We find a way for the court to keep us informed about our cases such as when big decisions are going to be made about our lives.
- Help is available when things get tough and everyone’s arguments stress us out.
- We have a way to tell the people involved in our case about the good and bad bits and know they’d listen.
The Chief Executive of Cafcass, Anthony Douglas, has responded to this list by saying: “I agree with the Board on these big issues and I hope that we are able to address them over the next year. We will continue to work to bring case duration times down”.