Listen and Change a Guide to Children and Young People’S Participation Rights 2Nd Edition

Listen and Change A Guide to Children and Young People’s Participation Rights 2nd Edition Listen and Change A Guide to Children and Young People’s Participation Rights 2nd Edition This guide has been produced on behalf of Participation Works by the Children’s Rights Alliance for England. Written by Tom Burke Participation Works enables The Children’s Rights Alliance organisations to effectively for England protects the human involve children and young rights of children by lobbying people in the development, government and others who hold delivery and evaluation of power, by bringing or supporting services that affect their lives. test cases and by using regional We are a consortium of six and international human rights national children and young mechanisms. We provide free people’s agencies made up of legal information and advice, the British Youth Council, the raise awareness of children’s Children’s Rights Alliance for human rights, and undertake England, the National Children’s research about children’s access Bureau, the National Council for to their rights. We mobilise Voluntary Youth Services, Save others, including children and the Children and The National young people, to take action to Youth Agency. promote and protect children’s human rights. Each year we We offer a comprehensive publish a review of the State of programme of activities and children’s rights in England. resources on participation – For more information visit: including workshops, training www.crae.org.uk sessions and practitioner networks – designed to support organisations and practitioners that work with children and young people under 25 years old. For more information visit: www.participationworks.org.uk Participation Works 8 Wakley Street London EC1V 7QE March 2010 Published by the Children’s Rights Alliance for England on behalf of Participation Works. ISBN: 978-1-898961-26-0 4 Listen and Change Contents Foreword PAGE 7 Introduction PAGE 8 Chapter 1. Children’s human rights and participation PAGE 10 Chapter 2. Positive impacts of participation PAGE 18 Chapter 3. Leadership in local authorities PAGE 24 and the third sector Chapter 4. Building a culture of participation in PAGE 34 your organisation Chapter 5. Dealing with dilemmas and difficulties PAGE 40 Chapter 6. Conclusion – the way forward PAGE 48 Appendix A: Legislative duties and policy obligations PAGE 52 Appendix B: Monitoring human rights in England PAGE 58 Appendix C: Inspection and regulation of participation PAGE 60 in local authorities Abbreviations and acronyms Page 66 Listen and Change 5 Acknowledgements first edition Comments were also received The opinions expressed in this Carolyne Willow initiated this by Participation Works partners guide do not necessarily reflect the publication and significantly including Bill Badham (The NYA), policies or views of Participation shaped ideas and content James Sykes (Save the Children), Works and its partners or of the Big throughout the drafting process. Barbara Hearn and Janine Young Lottery Fund. Madeleine Tearse’s dedication, (NCB) and Abi Carter (Participation CRAE has made every effort direction and editing were Works Network for England). to ensure the accuracy of the essential to completing this Acknowledgements information contained within this report. Many thanks to both. second edition publication and content has been The guide was copyedited by We are grateful to The National checked with contributors wherever Kathryn O’Neill. Youth Agency for allowing us to possible. However, we would like to reproduce the What’s Changed offer apologies for any inaccuracies We are thankful to the external that may have occurred. experts who commented on initial case studies and to the National drafts of the document: Children’s Bureau for using findings from the Building a Culture of • Prof Priscilla Alderson, Participation research. Professor of Childhood Studies, Institute of Education In revising this second edition we are grateful for comments • Liam Cairns, Director, Investing received from: Jack Green, Young in Children activist with the Children’s Rights • Dr Tom Cockburn, Lecturer Alliance for England; Paulina in Applied Social Sciences, Filippou; Nick Snow; Claire Grant; University of Bradford James Mullarkey, Jo Denoris, Kerri • Jack Lewars, National Mackin (Participation Works); Student Support Officer, Faiza Chaudary and Hannah English Secondary Students’ Dobbin (NCVYS); Zoe Renton Association (NCB) and Helen Deakin (BYC). We also received comments from • Leon Mexter, Chief Executive, the Participation Works Network Regional Youth Work Unit – England National Steering Group. North East • Eleanor Munro, Participation Consultant, The National Youth Agency • Emily Munro, Research Fellow, Centre for Child and Family Research (CCfR), Loughborough University • Chris Osborne, Policy Adviser, The Children’s Society Design and print by: www.graphicimpressions.co.uk 6 Listen and Change Foreword Peter Wanless, Chief Executive, Big Lottery Fund Over the past six years, the Big Lottery Fund has distributed billions of pounds to support communities across Britain. Many thousands of children and young people’s lives have been touched by projects that we have supported. Learning from our funding programmes has shown that the most positive results are realised when young people are themselves involved in planning and delivering the projects that are aimed at engaging them. Expecting young girls hanging Together, we wanted to increase round a street corner to quit the number and quality of smoking and get a job by opportunities for young people to attending healthy living lessons a get involved in leading projects. We bus ride away is far less effective wanted organisations to be able to than hearing what they want and share their ideas about what works responding to it. I recently heard with each other. Most importantly, from a great project who worked we wanted to support a long term with such girls to determine that cultural change in services that they wanted to know about health affect young people ensuring that and beauty tips. Via early sessions those young people themselves are about what tobacco does to your involved appropriately at all stages. teeth and the number of calories Listen and Change was one of in wine, they were soon engaged the first publications produced by in locally-based learning activities Participation Works. It introduces that led to qualifications and managers and leaders in possible careers in retail. organisations to participation Connecting with those voices and and the contribution they can opinions is far from straightforward. make in promoting a culture of The best of intentions can flounder participation among services that when young people resist, rebel affect young people. or appear not to know “what is At the Big Lottery Fund, good for them”. To help learn participation and user involvement from those who have worked will continue to be at the heart of long and hard in this territory, every project we fund. I hope this the Big Lottery Fund has, since guide will introduce you to these 2007, invested in the Participation concepts as you advance your Works consortium. We wanted to important work with children and ensure third sector organisations young people. and the young people’s sector generally had a free resource that could give everyone access to the best of what is around when Design and print by: it comes to increasing young Peter Wanless, Chief Executive, www.graphicimpressions.co.uk people’s participation. Big Lottery Fund Listen and Change 7 Introduction This guide aims to increase understanding of children and young people’s participation rights and how they can be realised in local authority and third sector settings. It suggests ways to effectively listen to children and young people in order to create change with them and for them. Who is this guide for? for relationships with In this guide we focus on The guide is aimed at people children and young people participation in decision-making working in a managerial or as citizens, service users, and particularly children and leadership role in the third advisers, directors, volunteers, young people participating in sector or local authorities – for consultants and employees. something set up by adults. example, elected members, Participation is relevant at all However, it is important to trustees and heads of services. levels: governance, service remember that children and delivery, policy-making, young people are constantly Full engagement with community involvement and making decisions – most of the children and young people’s broader public campaigns time without the involvement of participation has implications and lobbying. adults – and may be engaged in self advocacy through forming and leading their own groups. What’s in this guide? The guide starts by examining an approach to participation based on human rights. Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) guarantees every child aged 17 and under the right to express their views and feelings on all matters that affect them. A human rights approach to participation stresses inclusion of all children, respect for their equal worth and the changes that result due to the participation process. Chapter 2 discusses the many benefits that participation brings, not only to children and young people but also to organisations and the wider community. It gives children and young people the chance to gain new skills, experiences and knowledge. It can build their

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