Reforms needed in kids' courts.A select Committee headed by Northumber- land MP Alan Beith Alan James Beith (born April 20, 1943), is a British politician, and the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Berwick-upon-Tweed. Early lifeAlan Beith was born in 1943 in Cheshire into a working class Conservative family. has called for a major reform in a children's court service. The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) is a national non-departmental public body for England and Wales [1] set up to safeguard and promote the welfare of children involved in family court proceedings. , launched two years ago, has come close to disaster, says the select committee's report. Mr Beith, MP for Berwick, said: "CAFCASS CAFCASS Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Services is there to protect vulnerable children at a critical time in their lives. But its first two years have been close to disaster. "It needs to dispel the impression that organisational priorities dominate its thinking. Instead, it must show that it really is putting children and young people first in all that it does. "It needs to work closely with other organisations which have raised their concerns with us." CAFCASS was set up in 2001 to integrate the Family Court Welfare Service, GALRO, and the Children's Division of the Official Solicitor. |
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