Participation Works

A new report has been published about how children and young people feel about divorce and separation by Cafcass.

The report, ‘How It Looks To Me’, is based on a consultation event held by Cafcass with 136 young people whose parents were going through divorce or separation. The event involved a mixture of questionnaires and focus groups with young people. The youngest respondent was aged six and the oldest 17, with the majority of young people aged between 10-13 years old. Key findings from the report include that young people felt that Cafcass’ involvement generally helped and in some cases made a difference to their lives. However, many of them worried about the financial situation for themselves and the parent they lived with.

Other key findings included that where young people were not happy with the outcome of their parents’ separation it was mainly because they felt they had little input into the process or their views were not taken into account. Many young people felt that family and friends, particularly grandparents, had an important role to play in providing continuing support to them but also expressed the importance of being able to talk to an independent person who they could trust. The research also found that some young people would like to represent themselves in court and speak to the judge directly so that their views cannot be misrepresented. Many young people wanted to inform the court themselves about their needs, wishes, and feelings. Young people thought that the best way to find out about the needs, wishes and feelings of young people would be simply to ask them.

Speaking about the report Anthony Douglas, Cafcass Chief Executive said, “Children and young people whose parents are going through a divorce or separation need to be supported at each stage in the proceedings. This report shows that many of these children are worried about their financial situation and want further support after the proceedings have finished. It is a positive sign that many of the young people felt that they benefitted from Cafcass’ involvement but there were also areas mentioned that we could improve on - such as confidentiality. The information that has been gained from this report will help identify ways we can improve support services for children going through this difficult time.”

Fri, 05/02/2010 - 14:59