Children and young people
Every Child Matters: Change for Children is the name for a big project across England which involves everyone who works with children. This includes teachers, doctors, nurses, social workers, youth workers and many other people.
The project is all about making sure children and young people can have a good life, whoever they are, and no matter what problems they may face.
The aim is to make everyone aware of the things children and young people need to help them to be happy, successful, healthy and safe. The Government wants people to work better together to look after the needs of children.
In 2003 the Government asked children, young people and adults in England for their views on how children and young people should be treated and helped. The Government wanted to find out how it could improve things like health, education, social care and justice. The document that asked these questions was called a green paper and, like this website, it was called Every Child Matters. You can click to see the green paper.
Children and young people told the Government that they wanted support to:
- Be healthy
- Stay safe
- Enjoy and achieve
- Make a positive contribution
- Achieve economic well-being
These five aims are at the heart of the Children Act 2004. This means that it is a law that everyone must make these aims top priorities for all children and young people.
It is really important that children and young people have a big say in the decisions that affect them. The Government has appointed a Children's Commissioner for England, who will give children and young people a voice in government and in public life.
This website is mainly for people who work with children and young people, and the people who make decisions that affect children and young people. One of the main aims is to make sure that people such as teachers, doctors, social workers and the police are able to work better together to help children and young people.
Click to find out more about the background to Every Child Matters.
If you need help
There are lots of excellent websites to help children and young people of all ages. If you need some help or advice about a problem, look at our list of useful websites.
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