Good relationships central to making young people’s voices heard in family courts

“Connection before content”, because good relationships are central to making young people’s voices the loudest in family courts – that was the key message from two social workers from Cafcass.

Danielle Roberts-Wareing, Together Champion & Service Manager in the Greater Manchester Region, and Jennifer Lee, Together Champion & Assistant Lead to Cafcass' Social Work Academy discussed how the service works to bring a restorative element to children’s experiences with the family court at the recent Shared Futures in Social Work conference in Birmingham.

They said that the role of Cafcass was to work with children and young people to develop trust, allowing them to express their truths, experiences, hopes, thoughts and wishes.

Their work begins with an initial meeting with parents. At such a meeting, Jennifer Lee says: “we always ask the parents to tell us what’s unique and special about your child: is the child aware of the proceedings and if not, how are you planning to bring them on board and make them aware of what’s happening? Because what’s happening next is that we are going to get involved and will be sending [their child] an introductory letter.”

All children and young people receive this initial letter from their Cafcass social worker, explaining what is happening and asking for their views.

Next, the Cafcass worker and the child meet. Children are asked where they prefer to meet -- this and the timing of visits are crucial to building a relationship that respects the child.

“We come across children who don’t know why they have to come out of class at school, why they have a social worker asking them questions,” Ms Lee said.

She added: “Sometimes children feel that they have to make the decisions and decide who they want to live with, and the feeling that they are having to choose causes them anxiety. We explain that the judge really wants to know what you think but that the judge will make the decision.

Ms Roberts-Wareing said: “If you don’t give a child an explanation, they will come up with one of their own – and it will often be wrong, aligned to other people’s narratives and things that they have overheard; it is not helpful to how they grow up in the world and understand their story.”

Children and young people are always asked if they want to be kept informed about court proceedings. For those that do, Cafcass workers send keeping-in-touch letters, which let them know of any updates and delays.

All explanations provided to the child are recorded in the Assessment and Child’s Plan.

“Within the reports and case notes, we record what we tell the children in child-friendly words so if they ever access their records, they can read it in our own words. We also record their views of our recommendations, and we will tell the court what the child thinks in their own words, then summarise everything that has happened, and the decisions of the court,” Jennifer Lee said.

Ms Roberts-Wareing added, “We aren’t genies – we are very clear with children that we can’t always do what they want.”

The final stage includes writing a goodbye letter, with what has happened in Cafcass’s work with the child, including why the Cafcass workers made their recommendations to the court about their future. A copy of that letter is also retained as part of their records.