Who are the FJYPB?
https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/family-justice-young-peoples-board
The Family Justice Young People’s Board (FJYPB) are a group of children and young people from all over England, aged 7–25 years old who have direct experience of family law proceedings or who have a strong passion and belief in children’s rights and ensuring the voice of the child is heard and listened to within the family justice system.
As a sub-group to the National Family Justice Board (FJB) the FJYPB is charged with ensuring that the FJB’s work remains child focused and child inclusive. The FJYPB have been tasked with inspecting 29 NACCC accredited supervised child contact centres in order to evaluate how child inclusive and welcoming the centres are for children and young people. Following each inspection a detailed findings and recommendations report is produced by the young inspectors supported by the FJYPB secretariat. 19 centres have been inspected to date with 5 achieving 3 stars, 13 achieving 4 stars and one centre achieving 4/5 stars.
How child inclusive and welcoming are NACCC supervised centres? Key findings and recommendations
Key Findings
- Dedicated, passionate and committed staff members who are willing to adapt to meet the needs of the children and young people that attend their centre.
- Good resources available for children aged from birth to 8 years.
- Useful information leaflets that the centres share with the attending parents, about what to expect and the stages of their child’s development and what they may like to play with.
Key Recommendations
- To introduce a method for children and young people to sign in on their arrival to each contact.
- To have more relevant resources for older children and young people e.g. a Wii games console that could be interactively used during contact or table football.
- Displaying of other national and local services relevant for children and young people. Such as NSPCC/Childline.
- To introduce a method for children and young people to offer feedback about the centre.
Building on their achievements – Diana Active Campaigner Award
The FJYPB has also been honoured with the Diana Active Campaigner Award in recognition of their impact and valued work within the Family Justice System. The Diana Award was set up in memory of Princess Diana’s belief that young people have the power to change the world for the better. It is presented to inspirational young people who have made a positive difference in their communities. The assessment panel felt that the FJYPB’S nomination had the ‘Wow factor’. Congratulations!
