A report published this week revealed that half of the children in care do not trust the court to make the right decision about their lives.

The report, written for Ofsted by Children’s Rights director Roger Morgan, showed that of 58 children interviewed, 50% though the courts never or do not usually make the right decisions for children, compared to 25% who thought the courts usually or always make the right decisions.

In a series of discussion groups, 67 other children and young people were also asked about their experiences of the process. Most said courts should make fewer decisions about children’s lives.

Their main concerns were that the court can make the wrong decision; it is often difficult for the child to have their say; and it is difficult to get a decision changed once it is made.

Given the life-changing impact of these decisions on children, these findings are alarming.

And regardless of whether the decisions in question were right or wrong, in many cases it is clear that the system has clearly failed to convince children that they have been heard and given a proper understanding of why those decisions were made.

Many reported that they had not been able to get their views over to the court as they had wanted: because they had not been given the opportunity; because they felt too nervous or scared; or because they felt they had to say what others wanted them to say.

One older child pointed to the need for ‘actually taking in what young people have said and believing them’, stressing: ‘Young people who are in care are there for a reason, It is because of their experiences and what they have survived that makes them as defensive and sometimes as cold as they are… their mental state has been set to survival.’

There can hardly be anything more disenfranchising that the way these children have been treated and made to feel by the family justice system – that they have no say in whether their parents or strangers bring them up.

And it is unsatisfactory to say their views can simply be dismissed with the observation that children are not able to judge what is right for them.

The fact the court process is so ill equipped to deal with these young people, with the appropriate understanding and sensitivity, is pitiful.

In addition there were other saddening comments that revealed the lack of consideration given to these vulnerable children by the justice system.

Asked about what the courts could do better, the children said some quite simple things. Make sure that children leaving their families have time to say goodbye before leaving, was one suggestion.

It defies belief that this is not already what happens, and that the justice system requires a child to tell them this.

Another suggestion was linked to the children’s fear that courts often make the wrong decisions. They said the final decision should never be made by one person, but by a number, to make it less likely that they get it wrong.

And a third proposal was that the justice system should always check up on what had happened to each child after a court had decided their future. One group proposed an automatic check every two years on whether a court decision is still right for the child.

The comments and views indicate that the family justice system is patently failing some of the most vulnerable children in society, who are left feeling abandoned by a justice system that decided their fate with little regard to them.

And the fact that it required these children to point out some very obvious ways in which the system is going wrong, perhaps adds force to their view that the courts are not making the right decisions about their lives, because it lacks a basic understanding of how to meet their needs.

If the court cannot get the process right to deal their cases, how can the court be trusted to make the right decision about their lives?