Family Justice Young People’s Board

Who are we?

 

We are the Family Justice Young People’s Board (FJYPB). We are a group of over 50 children and young people aged between seven and 25 years old who live across England and Wales. All of our members have either had direct experience of the family justice system or have an interest in children’s rights and the family courts.

Our overall aim is to support the work of the Family Justice Board which is to deliver improvements to the family justice system so that it provides the best result for children who come into contact with it.

We work hard to help ensure that the work of the Family Justice Board is child-centred and child-inclusive. We do this by participating in all its meetings to enable young people to have a direct say in its work. In doing this we work closely with other young people’s groups and stakeholders within family justice.

Read our Family Justice Young People's Board terms of reference.

FJYPB coronavirus (COVID-19) advice for children and young people

The Family Justice Young People’s Board (FJYPB) has published a new COVID-19 information booklet for children and young people which is packed full of great advice. The booklet includes ‘top tips’ for keeping in touch with family and friends, how to make the best of being at home, and what to do if feeling unsafe or unwell. FJYPB members also give their thoughts on how COVID-19 is affecting them.

 

What is it like to be part of the FJYPB?

 

Our work

 

We work to promote the voice of children and young people that experience family breakdown including those children and young people who are involved in family court proceedings. We do this by actively taking part in various meetings, projects and events, and working together with various agencies and organisations. Below are a few examples of what we do.

 

 

Who we work with

 

The FJYPB works with a range of family justice organisations and agencies. These include, but are not limited to:

• Cafcass
• Ministry of Justice
• Family Justice Board
• Mediation services (including National Family Mediation, NFM)
• National Association of Child Contact Centres (NACCC)
• HMCTS
• Judiciary
• Local authorities.

 

Our achievements

 

The  FJYPB National Charter aims to strengthen professional practice. It sets out the aspirations that children and young people want from family justice services such as the Ministry of Justice, the Department for Education, the judiciary (judges and magistrates) and many more. We’re working with all family justice organisations to implement the charter and make these aspirations a reality. It is our aim that our charter will help improve children and young people’s experience of the family courts and dispute resolution services.

 

Our glossary

We have put together a very useful glossary explaining some of the words and phrases which children and young people may hear during a family court case and may have difficulty understanding. We are currently working to update our glossary.

Mind your language!

We’ve put together a list of words and phrases that we would like to encourage all professionals to stop using when they are speaking to young people and children and when they refer to them in their reports, on file and to other professionals.

Mind your language

Our Annual Review 2020

Our Annual Review 2020 gives us an opportunity to reflect on the work which we have carried out over the past year and the impact the FJYPB have had across the family justice system.

The annual review also provides a chance to look ahead to the future and sets out our priorities for 2021/22.

 

Poster for schools

Our members have produced a poster to help schools to signpost children and young people involved in the family courts, or experiencing family separation, to information that may be useful to them. We would like to encourage schools to display this poster, and to add a named member of staff, so that children and young people know how to access support if they need it and know who to talk to if they are finding things difficult.

 

Sorting out separation

Some of our board members worked with the Department of Work and Pensions to help develop this video to encourage parents to focus on their child when they are separating.

 

Our top tips for professionals

We have developed a range of top tips aimed at professionals working with children and young people. Check out our top tips posters and short films below:

Watch this space! We are currently developing more top tips focusing on:

• Best practice for professionals working with migrant and refugee children and young people
• Best practice tips for social workers (in local authorities) working with children and young people