Children's views of decisions made by the court: Policy and practice issues arising from the Your Shout Too! survey

Your Shout Too! reports on a National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children survey of the views of 141 children and young people involved in private law court proceedings following the separation of their parents. All of the children who responded had either been the subject of a Welfare Report prepared under the provisions of Section 7 of the Children Act, 1989, or had been separately represented in the proceedings under the provisions of Rule 9.5 Family Proceedings Rules, 1991. The research was carried out with the assistance of the Children and Family Courts Advisory and Support Service. This article looks at current arrangements for hearing the voice of the child and considers how society views the involvement of children and young people in parental disputes about their children's residence and contact arrangements. Drawing on the views and experiences of the children responding to the survey, it goes on to explore the implications for developing policy and practice in relation to the approximately three million children in the United Kingdom who will experience the separation of their parents during the course of their childhood.