07/12/2011 - Family Justice System

Wednesday 7th December 2011
5.00pm - 7.00pm
Committe Room 12, House of Commons, Westminster

Download minutes of the meeting

Key themes arising from the meeting

The family justice system doesn't listen to young people

• There are so many people involved, but no-one is really listening to the young person
• There needs to be clear explanations of what is happening and why there are delays
• Judges need to be trained by young people in communicating with young people
• CAFCASS have done some good work, but funding cuts are limiting the amount of work they can do

Parental responsibility

• There are problems with how decisions about parental responsibility are made
• The law needs to be looked at to let looked-after children go to court to determine who has parental responsibility

Criminalisation of young people

• Local authorities are letting looked-after children down by taking them to court too easily
• Criminal records are long lasting and can influence your future life, things that happen when you’re a child shouldn’t be counted for a long time afterwards

Announcements

Edward Timpson told members of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Looked-After Children and Care Leavers that:

• There will be a newsletter coming out before every meeting. If you want to get a local story in to the newsletter then contact Jack Smith (jack.smith@thewhocarestrust.org.uk).
• A young person led APPG will be taking place in April, if you want to take part in planning this then get in touch with Emma Corbett (emma.corbett@thewhocarestrust.org.uk).
• The APPG will try and link care leavers with MPs. If you’re interested in meeting your local MP then get in touch with Jack Smith (jack.smith@thewhocarestrust.org.uk).

Response from CAFCASS

Edward wrote to Anthony Douglas, Chief Executive of CAFCASS, asking him how he was making sure that CAFCASS continued to involved young people despite a smaller budget.

Read the response from Anthony Douglas.

News

• Is more support needed for children who run away or go missing from care? - 26-Mar-2012
• Government policies on access to further and higher education abandon care leavers to the whims of localism, says report - 16-Mar-2012
• The Trust calls for Government to look wider than adoption - 14-Mar-2012

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