Supporting Children when Parents Separate

Building on years of research and reflection on the workings of the family justice system, Mervyn Murch offers a fresh approach to supporting the thousands of children every year who experience a complex form of bereavement following parental separation and divorce. This stressful family change, combined with the loss of support due to austerity cuts, can damage the education,well-being, mental health, and long-term life chances of a child. Murch argues for early preventative intervention which responds to children's worries when they first present them, without waiting until things have gone badly wrong. His radical proposals for reform involve a much more coordinated and coordinated effort from schools, the Child and Family Court Advisory and Support Service, and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services. This book encourages practitioners and academics to see the world through the eyes of children in crisis to enable services that more directly support children in a manner and at a time when they need it most.