Four young people speak about children's involvement in family court matters

The practice section in this issue of JFS presents speeches by four young people, recently delivered to a large audience of judges, lawyers and mental health practitioners in northern England, at the launch of a new initiative by Cafcass, called Children First. Cafcass (short for Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service) was established in the United Kingdom in 2001, as an independent authority, and its functions range across family court, Guardian ad Litem and child protection matters. Its goals are To safeguard and promote the welfare of children To give advice to the family courts To make provision for children to be represented; and To provide information, advice and support to children and their families.