Participation FAQs
What is participation?
Asking children and young people what works, what doesn't and what could
work better, and involving them on an ongoing basis, in the design, delivery
and evaluation of services. The Every Child Matters: Change for Children
programme aims to ensure that policies and services are designed around the
needs of children and young people, and that they are involved in decision
making at a local and national level. Engaging children and young people in
this way gives them an opportunity to make a positive contribution in their
communities.
How does participation help my work?
Better outcomes for children, young people and families, and an improved
policy process. Consultation offers the best long-term guarantee of services
meeting needs in a sustainable way. An ongoing dialogue with children and young
people is important to ensuring that policies and services are effectively
evaluated and can evolve as necessary. Involving children and young people also
helps to develop new skills and promote links within communities.
Why should we bother helping children and young people to
participate?
The active promotion of participation of children and young people should lead to change. This can be done by ensuring more involvement and opportunities for them to have a real say in decision making. It also creates benefits to organisations (better targeted services, saving money, new ideas, happy customers), the young people (better services, new skills, more of what they want) and to the community (engaged, community-minded children and young people, fresher democracy).
Sinclair and Franklin (2000) identified the following reasons for participation:
- Uphold children's rights
- Fulfil legal responsibilities
- Improve services
- Improve decision making
- Enhance democratic processes
- Promote children's protection
- Enhance children's skills
- Empower and enhance self-esteem
I don't work with children - surely participation doesn't affect
me?
Not true. Every practitioner in health, social services, education, community and criminal justice has an impact on children, young people and families. All staff need to be equipped for this. Getting children and young people involved also helps them understand your work better.
Isn't effective participation just going to make my job harder?
No - actually easier and more effective in achieving outcomes. Understanding the needs of those who need local services most means they're more likely to take up what your organisation has to offer, and to recommend it to others in need.
What does participation cost? What are the best methods?
Depending on the specific circumstances, participation can mean everything
from quick straw polls in schools and youth clubs, to full-on consultation via
websites and workshops, to building a young person's advisory group or
youth parliament.
Who can I ask for help developing participation for children and young
people?
There is a wide range of voluntary and community groups with a wealth of experience in this area, including:
- National Children's Bureau (NCB)
- Children's Rights Alliance for England (CRAE)
- British Youth Council
- NSPCC
- Coram Family
- National Council of Voluntary Childcare Organisations
- National Council for Voluntary Youth Services
There are also a wide range of publications and websites supporting participation:
-
Building
a culture of participation
We have published a report, Building a Culture of Participation, researched and written by the NCB and PK Research Consultancy.
-
Hear
By Right
Hear by Right from the National Youth Agency is a tried and tested standards framework for organisations across the statutory and voluntary sectors to assess and improve practice and policy on the active involvement of children and young people.
-
Children's
Fund and Connexions
The Children's Fund and Connexions partnerships have embedded participation in their working practice and can support you in learning from their experiences.
-
Mapping
children and young people's participation
In October 2004 we published research by the National Youth Agency and the British Youth Council, Mapping Children and Young People's Participation in England.
-
Carnegie
Young People Initiative
The Carnegie Young People Initiative runs a network of participation workers to share good practice.
There are also a number of examples of good practice at local level including:
For more information about participation in national politics go to the UK Youth Parliament website.
Do I need to be police checked?
Anyone working with children and young people must be Criminal Records
Bureau checked.
Click to for more information on the Criminal
Records Bureau website.
What do young people say about participation and how it can be done
effectively?
- It won't happen without the right resources to support it.
- Make sure there is flexibility about meeting times so that they can happen at times that suit young people.
- Staff with the right skills need to be specifically dedicated to support young people's participation. Make sure there are enough staff to make a difference.
- Make sure a range of methods is used for communicating with young people in ways they will find easy, such as text messaging.
- Make sure we give good feedback to young people about how they have contributed.
- Make sure we provide clear, ongoing communication about how the participation process will develop and what concrete action has been taken.
- Always provide clear, relevant information.
- Organisations should always be prepared to take feedback about themselves from young people.
- Decision makers need to get to know young people they are working with. Make sure they actually meet them and show they value them.
- Make sure we get the atmosphere right and use methods and approaches that don't exclude particular groups of young people.
- Make sure we are always culturally inclusive.
- Make sure this is enjoyable for all concerned.
What is the Government doing to support participation by children and young
people?
Developing an infrastructure for participation
-
Participation
practice centre
We are supporting the development of a participation practice centre - including a knowledge management system for good practice, standards and a network for participation workers - led by NCB, the National Youth Agency and Carnegie Young People Initiative.
-
Ready
Steady Change
Children's Rights Alliance for England (CRAE) is leading a consortium of voluntary organisations in the development of a comprehensive training programme - Ready Steady Change - to increase children and young people's effective participation in decision making.
Two core training handbooks are in preparation: one to increase the skills, knowledge and confidence of children and young people, the other to increase the skills, knowledge and confidence of all those working with children and young people.
Supporting mechanisms for children and young people's involvement
The Consultation Fund supports voluntary and community organisations to organise consultation events for children and young people across England, to enable them to have a voice in the services that affect them locally, nationally and internationally. In 2004 Changemakers took over the running of the fund to enable greater involvement of children and young people in assessing and awarding grants.
- The UK Youth Parliament helps young people to develop into active citizens and is a valuable route through which their voices can be heard by local and national decision makers.
- In August 2004 Children's Express was appointed to establish and run the Children and Youth Board until March 2005. The board consisted of 25 children and young people aged 11-19 from across the UK. It was involved in the recruitment of the Children's Commissioner and also advised the Minister for Children, Young People and Families on other Government policy developments relevant to children and young people. Options are currently being explored for the board's continuation in 2005/06.
Citizenship projects
- Hansard Society is being sponsored to run two projects aimed at
increasing young people's participation in democracy and promoting
citizenship.
- Y Vote Mock Elections provide an informative way for young people to get a
taste for democracy. Participation in mock elections helps to encourage greater
interest and engagement in the democratic process. Pupils are encouraged
to stand as candidates, form election teams and run election campaigns that
mirror the real election process. All school members are given the
opportunity to vote, and therefore experience the excitement of taking part in
an election.
Click for more information on Y Vote Mock Elections.
- HeadsUp is an interactive resource for use in teaching political literacy with the aid of ICT. The website provides a space for online moderated debates delivered in schools as part of citizenship education. Its purpose is to help develop the skills and knowledge needed to actively participate in democracy. Opportunities are also provided for participants to communicate directly with politicians and opinion formers on topical issues.
Good practice
- We are working with emerging children's trusts to support effective
practice in participation by children and young people. As part of the national
evaluation of children's trusts we will work closely with children's
trust pathfinders to identify good practice in embedding participation of
children and young people in local children's services, and spreading this
good practice to other authorities.
- The Government document Learning to Listen sets out core principles for
children and young people's participation in the planning, delivery and the
evaluation of Government policies and services. In July 2004, the report was
updated to reflect the changes brought about through the Every Child Matters
programme.
- In 2004, 12 government departments published action plans on involving children and young people in policy and service design and delivery.
So you are doing this work for children and young people. How are you
engaging families?
There is much evidence to support the link between effective parenting and the well-being and success of children and young people. As the one constant in a child or young person's life, parents are absolutely key to promoting positive outcomes and ensuring that children and young people achieve their potential.
And yet we know that some still do not receive the seamless support that they need to fulfil the parenting role. The Every Child Matters green paper heralded the Government's aim to develop better universal information and advice and support for all families, available as and when it is needed. Within this universal offer, specialist services will be targeted to those families that need additional support.
Support is particularly important at times of transition, such as the move from primary to secondary school, and adolescence, but better information, advice and support should be available to mothers and fathers, from maternity right through childhood and the teenage years.
Documents
Learning
to Listen: Core Principles for the Involvement of Children and Young
People
This page was last updated on 29 June 2007
