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Listen more
and assume
less
The views of
children and
young people
in East Lothian
Report by the
Involvement
Officer
Department of
Education and
Children’s
Services,
East Lothian
Council
Feb 2010
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Introduction
‘All young people should have a
say over what happens to them
and have a chance to give
feedback on the services they
get. We are experts in knowing
what works and doesn’t work so
our views matter a lot.’
Why we should listen more
and assume less
East Lothian Council is committed to
making sure that looked after children
and young people, and their families
and carers, are involved in making
decisions and planning for their care,
education
and development. Since
Young Person, Looking after our
2007,
we
have
employed an
looked after children event, East
Involvement Officer. Their role is to set
Lothian, 2008
up systems, initiatives and procedures to
involve children, young people and their
families in how we plan and deliver
integrated services in East Lothian. This report
tells you how this is working now.
We hope that all staff (including Team Leaders, Head Teachers, Teachers,
Service Managers and Executive Directors) and Elected Members will take this
report into account when planning services for children young people and
their families.
How to use this report
This report provides you with:
• an understanding of the views
of young people
• the outcomes that have been
measured
• an insight into the various
methods used to engage with
children and young people.
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What is Viewpoint?
Children's Services uses the
Viewpoint online survey
system to look at how to
involve service-users in
decision-making processes
and the development of
services. Viewpoint is
designed to record the views
of young people and their
carers.
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SHANARI
All local authorities work to
Scottish Government guidance
which says that every child must
be:
• Safe
• Healthy
• Achieving
• Nurtured
• Active
• Respected and responsible
• Included
Throughout this report, you will see that we
use SHANARI. These are known as the
‘seven well-being indicators’. They are
used by local authorities, health and
inspection agencies to try to find out
how well wide range of services
meet children and young people’s
needs.
Respected and responsible will be
covered as two separate sections in
future reports.
Structure of the report
The report has eight sections:
• Section 1 – key findings from Viewpoint about children and young
people who are looked after and accommodated
• Section 2 – key findings from interviews with young people who are
looked after at home
• Section 3 – key findings from Viewpoint about young people involved in
child protection
• Section 4 – key findings from Viewpoint about young people with
Additional Support for Learning Needs
• Section 5 – key findings about transition
• Section 6 – ‘Your Views’ – findings of Children’s Services questionnaire
• Section 7 – involving young people in recruitment and selection
• Section 8 – other developments, for example, Access All Areas and
Active Schools.
At the end of most sections, you will find a list of the actions that are being
taken or that need to be taken. If you know of any actions that have been
taken to address the issues raised by young people in this report that haven’t
been listed, please contact the Involvement Officer (01620 827 167/email:
children&[email protected]). The report will be updated and
distributed twice a year.
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Appendices
At the back of this report you will find these appendices:
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•
Appendix 1 – List of all actions
•
Appendix 2 – List of Additioanl Reports
•
Appendix 3 – Why involve?
•
Appendix 4 – Feedback Loop
If you would like
further information on
where the evidence
for this report comes
from, please email
children&families@eas
tlothian.gov.uk
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Section 1
Children and young people who are
looked after and accommodated
(LAAC)
Key findings gathered through
Viewpoint
From 1 January 2009 to 25 November 2009, looked
after and accommodated children and young
people completed a total of
94 Viewpoint
questionnaires.
Sample
The sample of children and
young people reported on is not
necessarily representative of all
children and young people in
East Lothian. Any differences
observed could have occurred
by chance, or could be affected
by other factors such as length
of time in care or length of time
at placement.
LAAC = looked after and
accommodated. These
are children and young
people placed with
foster carers, in a
residential unit setting, or
with relatives by the
local authority or by the
Children’s Hearings
system.
Who was in our
sample?
•
•
•
•
12 of these young
people were aged 57.
25 were aged 7 –9.
39 were aged 10 –14
18 were aged 15
plus.
The most positive responses related to:
☺ help from and relationships with carers
☺ feeling OK in placements
☺ involvement in reviews
☺ knowing about the complaints system.
The most negative responses related to:
not being happy with contact arrangements with friends and family
not having enough life story information
not discussing care
not being able to do hobbies as often as liked
not having a bank account
views and opinions not being listened to.
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Safe
•
•
•
•
•
Most young people say they feel safe in their placement and reported
that they were positive about relationships with their carers.
Most of the 7-9 age group said they definitely found it easy to talk to
their carer.
Three-quarters of the 10-14 groups saying they got on ‘very well’ with
their carer.
Most of the 7-9s said they definitely knew how to get help if they were
unhappy or worried (11 of 12).
Just over half of the 10-14 group said they could definitely use a phone
in private, if they were worried about something.
Healthy
The children and young people responding were less positive about their sleep.
•
•
•
Under half of the 10-14 and 7-9 groups said they definitely slept well or
had no problems sleeping.
Four young people aged 10-14 said they had problems sleeping ‘most of
the time’ or ‘always’.
Around two-thirds of the 10-14s said they felt angry or frustrated ‘all of
the time’ or ‘most of the time’. Reasons given for feeling angry or
frustrated included:
people or situations winding them up.
having nightmares.
at school, playing sport, being stressed, being bullied or getting into
trouble.
Achieving
•
•
Around three-quarters of the 10-14 group said they had no worries at
school.
Five young people said they did have some worries.
The worries described related to bullying, exams and specific subjects.
•
•
•
Three-quarters of the 7-9 group said they definitely got enough help with
school.
Three children in the 7-9 group said they needed more help.
Seven young people aged 10-14 said they did not get all the help they
needed with school or college work.
Nurtured
•
•
6
Children and young people in the 7-9 and 10-14 groups gave the most
positive responses for feeling ‘OK’, ‘happy’ or ‘settled’ in their
placement.
Less than half of the 10-14 group said their carer definitely noticed when
they did well at something.
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•
•
Two young people said their carer did not notice when they did well.
Most of the 7-9 group, however, said their carer definitely told them
when they had done well at something.
Active
•
•
•
Most of the 15+ group said they could do their hobbies as often as they
liked.
Less than half of the 10-14 group said they could definitely do their
hobbies as often as they liked, with two saying ‘not really’.
Only two children in the 7-9 group said they could do these things as
often as they liked, but only two said they definitely could not.
Respected and responsible
•
•
•
•
The 15+ age group were less positive about being involved in care
planning and particularly in preparation for the future.
Under half of the 15+ group said they had a Pathway Plan, with six
saying they did not have a plan and six saying they were not sure.
Three-quarters of the 15+ group said they knew what post-care housing
was available.
The older age groups (10 plus) were positive about complaints
information.
Included
Contact with friends and family was one of the main areas where children and
young people across all ages gave more negative responses, except in the
15+ group, who mostly said they saw family and friends as often as they liked.
Under half of the 7-9 and 10-14 groups said their friends could definitely visit
their placement, with one child aged 7-9 and four young people aged 10-14
saying they could not.
Similarly, under half of all children and young people said they definitely saw
their friends as often as they liked, with two children aged 7-9 and five young
people aged 10-14 saying they could not. In addition:
• under half of the children in the 7-9 and 10-14 age groups said they had
the life story information they wanted
• four children aged 7-9 saying they did not have any life story information
• ten young people aged 10-14 saying they did not have the life story
information they wanted ‘at all’.
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•
Actions be taken
8
Who is responsible?
Continue working to ensure that all
children and young people who are
‘LAAC’ get good support with
planning for their transition both within
children’s services and across
agencies.
Children’s Services/All Agencies
We will work to ensure that multiagency training on attachment is
extended across all agencies
GIRFEC Training Group
Produce a policy on Corporate
Parenting in East Lothian
Address care and support issues in
placement
Integrated Children’s Services LAC
Planning Group
Children’s Services Resource
Management Team
Develop the content and use of the
Viewpoint questionnaire for LAAC
Involvement Officer and
Children’s Services Staff
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Section 2
Young people who are looked
after at home
In 2009, the Involvement Officer
carried out interviews with young
people about their experience of
supervision orders in East Lothian.
The findings were taken into
account by the review of
Services for looked after
children that was undertaken
by East Lothian Council’s
Children’s Services. We carried
out semi-structured interviews
with three parents and three
young people who are currently
on supervision orders at home.
Please note that these numbers
are small and their views cannot be
taken as representative of all young
people who are looked after and
accommodated.
Looked-after children
A significant proportion of looked after
children are looked after at home by
their parents. Generally all of these
children and young people will have
appeared at a children’s hearing. The
Children’s Hearing will have made a
legal supervision requirement resulting
in the young person becoming looked
after. The overall aim of a supervision
requirement for a child or young person
living at home is to promote beneficial
changes in their life while enabling them
to remain at home.
The most positive responses from young people
gathered through these interviews related to:
☺ support from staff at ELIS
☺ getting support to deal with behavioural issues
☺ having a social worker that listens to you.
The most negative responses related to:
not knowing what a Supervision Order is
too many school staff going to meetings about them
not getting enough support at mainstream school
not getting enough support to plan for their future.
Key findings gathered through interviews
Achieving
Young people spoke about the difficulties they experienced with learning and
how this resulted in them having a negative experience at school.
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‘I stay in a lot more
now and my
parents don’t worry
as much’.
Young person
talking about their
supervision order
‘ … before [the
supervision order] I
would be always
drinking and getting
into fights. I would
end up being
locked up if I didn’t
stop.’
All three young people felt that difficulties including bad behaviour, and poor
attendance in school led to them being on a supervision order. When we
explored this further, young people also talked about the difficulties they
experienced with learning and how this resulted in them having a negative
experience at school.
Young people were really positive about getting additional support with their
learning at the East Lothian Inclusion Service.
Nurtured
All three young people interviewed felt that being on a supervision order has
made a difference to their lives.
Respected and responsible
One young person stated a supervision order is about ‘having a social worker
involved and make sure that everything is OK’.
Another young person was unclear about what a supervision order was and
suggested that it would be good to get a leaflet to explain what it means.
All three young people felt that difficulties, including bad behaviour and poor
attendance in school, led to them being on a supervision order. When we
explored this further, young people also talked about the difficulties they
experienced with learning and how this resulted in them having a negative
experience at school.
Included
All the young people interviewed had attended meetings. It was difficult find
out what these meetings were about. Young people spoke about getting
support from their social worker to participate in meetings. Their worker shared
reports with them and told them what was going to happen at the meeting. ‘I
get to read it, and then I can go back and change it.’
One young person felt that too many people were going to meetings that
involved her. She did not see the need for so many teachers involved.
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Actions to be taken
Involve young people in developing a
leaflet that explains what a supervision
order is.
Who is responsible?
Involvement Officer and
Public Information Officer
Support school staff through formal
supervision and training on ‘We can and
must do better’ to ensure their provision is
inclusive to all children and young people.
Sub-group of the Integrated
Children’s Services LAC Planning
Group
Implement Viewpoint questionnaires for
the purposes of LAC Review meetings and
extend knowledge base on the
experience of young people who are
‘LAC’
Involvement Officer
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Section 3
Young People involved in child protection– key
findings gathered through Viewpoint
From 1 January 2009 to 25 November 2009, a total of 23 Viewpoint
questionnaires were completed by children and young people who are on the
Child Protection Register.
• 7 of these young people were aged 5-7.
• 5 were aged 7 –9.
• 11 were aged 10 plus.
The most positive responses from young people gathered through Viewpoint
were that most young people:
☺ know why social workers are helping their family
☺ know that there is someone that they can trust or talk to when they are
upset
☺ talk to their social workers about how things are going.
The most negative responses related to:
not knowing what the child protection register means
not knowing why their name is on register
not attending child protection meetings
Safe
•
•
•
Half of the young people aged 5-7 feel safe where they live.
Eighty-three per cent of young people aged 7-10 report that they feel
safe where they live.
Almost half of young people of all age groups report that they
sometimes get bullied or picked on in school.
Healthy
•
•
•
12
Eighty-three per cent of young people aged 5-7 say they feel sick or
unwell sometimes.
Seventy per cent of young people report that they do not have any
worries or concerns about their health.
Sixty per cent of young people aged 10+ report that they feel safe at
home. Half of the young people said that they sleep well and get up OK
in the morning.
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Nurtured
•
•
•
Eighty-two per cent of young people aged 10+ report that they talk to
their social worker about how things are going.
Four of the young people aged 10+ describe their relationship with their
parent or carer as up and down whilst 50 per cent describe it as OK.
Eighty per cent of young people aged 10+ report that it is sometimes
easy to talk to their parent or carer or another adult if they are worried
or concerned about something.
Respected and responsible
All the young people aged 10+ know that their name is on the child protection
register but more than half of the young people do not know why their name is
on the child protection register.
Included
Most young people say that they have a grown up who
they like talking to and who helps them and know why a
social worker is there to help their family. Eighty-two per
cent of young people aged 10+ report that they have
never been to a child protection meeting before.
More than half of
young people
aged 7-9 are not
clear about what
the Child
Protection
Register is.
Actions taken
Explore the best ways of involving and
ensuring that the views of children and
families are heard at child protection
meetings
Who is responsible?
Involvement Officer, Child
Protection Manager, Children’s
Services Area Managers
Improve access to advocacy services
available to children and young people
Children’s Rights and Advocacy
worker (Who cares? (Scotland)),
Child Protection Manager.
Children’s Services Area
Managers, Lead Officer for the
Child Protection Committee
Involve Children and young people in the
development of information and
communication strategies
Involvement Officer,
Child Protection Manager,
Children’s Services Area
Managers, Lead Officer for the
Child Protection Committee
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Section 4
Young people with Additional Support for Learning
(ASL) needs
Twenty-eight pupils completed questionnaires and took part in focus groups
during class-time in three different schools in East Lothian.
☺ Young people enjoy school on both an academic and social level.
They felt they received support with their work but also with personal
problems.
☺ They were supported by a variety of people but in particular the school
nurse and guidance teacher.
Most were aware that they could attend meetings but many chose not
to. This may have been because of an assumption that meetings are
‘when you get into trouble’.
Very few of the young people had heard of the ASL Act and the terms
surrounding it.
☺ The young people enjoyed the focus groups because they could give
their opinion and share experiences with others.
Actions taken
Develop a Communication Strategy to
facilitate information sharing with
parents/carers of children/young people
with additional support needs.
Who is responsible?
Involvement Officer and
Public Information Officer
Extend the use of Viewpoint to Coordinated Support Plan planning
Involvement Officer,
Inclusion and Equality Team
Professionals will share ideas about how to
improve working relationships with
children and young people.
Getting it Right for Every Child
(GIRFEC) Group
The East Lothian Inclusion Service carried out a pilot using Viewpoint for the
purposes of Coordinated Support Planning. The views of young people will be
reported on in our next report.
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Section 5
Transition (moving from one setting to another)
We consulted five young people who were making transitions about their
experiences, and produced a podcast of their views on how services should
improve.
The views of young people are set out in a report called Voices of young
people.
Young people said that they want:
• informed staff who know them
• advice that meets their needs
• consistent and long-term support
• local training and career opportunities
• accessible public transport
• accessible complaints procedure
• clear information about services.
Outcomes measured through the Pathway Planning questionnaires using
Viewpoint will be documented in future reports.
Action
Redesign of Pathway Planning materials
and training of all Multi-Agency staff
Who is responsible?
Throughcare and Aftercare
(TAC) Team Leader/Children’s
Services Strategic Policy Officer
All young people aged 15.5 and beyond
to receive a Pathway Review rather than
a Looked After and Accommodated
Review.
Chairpersons of all Reviews
Pathway Reviews to continue after young
person has ceased to be
Accommodated
Chairpersons of all Reviews
(although this will not be possible
for LAAC Reviewing Officer)
Various employability/further education
initiatives developed:
• Work Experience Co-ordinator
appointed. Developing extended
work experience within ELC and
beyond
• Lothian Skills Centre (The Shed) Get
East Lothian Council Work
Experience Co-ordinator
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Ready for Work (GRfW) initiative
developed.
Integration Planning Officer
•
Bridges Project Way to Work
working in partnership with
Children’s Services.
Youth Justice and TAC Team
Area Manager and TAC Team
Leader
•
Rathbone ‘Life Skills’ Get Ready for
Work initiative developed with
priority for LAC/LAAC (and ex)
Young People.
Youth Justice and TAC Team
Area Manager and Skills
Development Scotland
•
Towards Leaving Care (TLC)
initiative developed with City of
Edinburgh and Midlothian Councils
in partnership with Jewel & Esk,
Stevenson and Telford Colleges
City of Edinburgh but with
involvement of East Lothian
Council Youth Justice and TAC
Team Area Manager, Inclusion
Officer and Educational
Psychology Service
Existing Council complaints procedure
agreed as most appropriate for use
East Lothian Council Complaints
Manager, TAC Team Leader, East
Lothian Council Youth Justice
and TAC Team Area Manager
New ‘Leaving Care’ document
developed based on Scottish
Government Template
TAC Team Leader and TAC Team
student placement
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Section 6
‘Your Views’
Children’s Services introduced the ‘Your Views’ questionnaire in June 2008.
‘Your Views’ is a feedback questionnaire that is offered when a young person is
ending their involvement with a service. We gathered this feedback from all
teams in Children’s Services. To date, 35 young people have completed ‘Your
Views’ forms. Most of the young people who completed the forms received a
service from the Youth Justice and the Integration teams.
Outcomes
Question
Were young people happy with the service they received?
Percentage
100%
Did young people feel more secure?
73%
Did young people feel that their views are listened to?
100%
Did young people feel that their views were taken into account
when decisions are being made?
100%
Did young people feel that their health needs were well met?
92%
Did young people feel that they were supported to get the most
out of school?
95%
Did young people feel that they were encouraged to take part in
sports and leisure?
76%
Had young people been given information about the role of their
worker?
95%
Were young people encouraged to have a say in the plans that
were made?
100%
Did young people know how to make a complaint about the
service?
55%
How many young people said the service had made a
difference to their life?
91%
Some of the comments included:
• ‘Helped me to get into college and told me what to do in an interview.’
• ‘Not drinking as much and being more responsible, better relationship
with my parents.’
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•
‘She got me to come to school and helped me with my confidence. It
was very good help for me, I had fun and overall I am happy.’
Actions taken
Encourage wider use of ‘Your Views’
across Children’s Services
Who is responsible?
Involvement Officer
Ensure the data gathered through ‘Your
Views’ is used to inform service planning
and delivery
Involvement Officer
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Section 7
Involving young people in recruitment
and selection
Since 2008, young people have participated
in the recruitment and selection for some
posts. These include:
• a new Children’s Rights and
Advocacy Service in East Lothian
• a Reviewing Officer
• a Residential Childcare Worker
• the Executive Director of
Education and Children’s Services.
‘We know what kind of
a service we would like
to get so it’s good to get
our opinion on who
should help us.’
Young Person, East
Lothian, 2008
The involvement of young
people in recruitment and
selection brought about a
number of benefits. It
demonstrated that the ideas and
views of young people are
valued and respected. It also
gave a clear message that
children and young people are
at the heart of what we do and
can have a direct influence on
services we provide.
Feedback from the young people who took part was
really positive. In spite of their nerves before the
interview, the young people involved gradually
gained in confidence towards the end of the process.
Actions taken
Develop further guidance on involving
young people in recruitment and
selection
Who is responsible?
Consumer Involvement Officer
and Children’s Rights and
Advocacy worker (Who Cares?
(Scotland))
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Section 8
Other developments
Review of the Summer Activity Programme
Children Services worked in partnership with
Community Development to find out the views
of parents whose children had additional
support needs about the Summer Activity
Programme. We gathered the views of
parents by questionnaire. Thirty parents
returned questionnaires. Following this
consultation, we set up six new activities for
children and young people with additional
support needs. Twenty children and young
people with additional support needs took
part in these activities in 2009. In 2008, this
figure was just two.
Actions taken
Ensure the recommendations made as a
result of the review are acted on.
‘The summer activity
programme was a fantastic
opportunity for my
daughter. I especially liked
the fact that there was
one-to-one support as I
could relax. I am so glad
that this type of need as
been identified.’
Parent
Who is responsible?
Community Well-being
Active Schools programme
Young people, including young people with additional support needs, shared
their views on the Active Schools programme delivered in all the six secondary
schools in East Lothian. The Involvement Officer (Children’s Services) and the
Dialogue Youth Officer ran six focus groups. You can find out more about
young people’s experience of the active schools programme in the Review of
the Active Schools Programme report. One pupil who has disabilities spoke
about how he engages in various sports activities with support from the Active
Sports Co-ordinator. This pupil feels that he would not be able to access these
opportunities without the support of the Active Sport Co-ordinator.
Access all Areas
Since September 2009, the Dialogue Youth Officer and the Involvement Officer
have been working with Young Scot and the English as an Additional
Language Outreach teacher with a group of young people from minority
ethnic communities living in East Lothian. Five of the young people come from
Poland, one from Portugal, one from Hungary and another young person
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comes from China. The purpose of the ‘Access all Areas' project is to support
young people from Black Minority Ethnic (BME) communities to gain
confidence to speak up about local issues and consult with their communities
about this. In doing this, young people have had the opportunity to discuss
local issues, make video blogs and participate in a range of team-building
games. Outcomes from this group will be reported on in future reports.
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Appendix 1
List of actions and who is responsible
Looked-after and accommodated children (LAAC)
Action
Continue working to ensure that all
children and young people who are LAAC
get good support with planning for their
transition both within children’s services
and across agencies.
Who is responsible?
Children’s Services/all Agencies
Work to ensure that multi-agency training
on attachment is extended across all
agencies
GIRFEC Training Group
Produce a policy on Corporate Parenting
in East Lothian
Integrated Children’s Services,
Looked-after Children (LAC)
Planning Group
Children’s Services Resource
Management Team
Address care and support issues in
placement
Looked-after children (LAC)
Action
Involve young people in developing a
developing a leaflet that explains what a
supervision order is.
Who is responsible?
Involvement Officer, Public
Information Officer
Support school staff through formal
supervision and training on We can and
must do better to ensure their provision is
inclusive to all children and young people.
Sub-group of the Integrated
Children’s Services LAC Planning
Group
Implement Viewpoint questionnaires for
the purposes of LAC Review meetings and
extend knowledge base on the
experience of young people who are LAC
Involvement Officer
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Child protection
Actions taken
Explore the best ways of involving and
ensuring that the views of children and
families are heard at child protection
meetings
Who is responsible?
Involvement Officer,
Child Protection Manager,
Children’s Services Area
Managers
Improve access to advocacy services
available to children and young people
Who Cares? Scotland Children’s
Rights and Advocacy worker,
Child Protection Manager,
Children’s Services Area
Managers, Lead Officer for the
Child Protection Committee
Involve Children and young people in the
development of information and
communication strategies
Involvement Officer, Child
Protection Manager, Children’s
Services Area Managers, Lead
Officer for the Child Protection
Committee
Additional Support for Learning (ASL)
Action
Develop a Communication Strategy to
facilitate information sharing with
parents/carers of children/young people
with additional support needs.
Who is responsible?
Involvement Officer, Public
Information Officer
Extend the use of Viewpoint to CSP
planning
Involvement Officer, Inclusion
and Equality Team
Professionals will share ideas about how to
improve working relationships with
children and young people Getting it
Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) Group.
Getting it Right for Every Child
(GIRFEC) Group
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Transition
Action
Redesign of Pathway Planning materials
and training of all Multi-Agency staff
Who is responsible?
Throughcare and Aftercare
(TAC) Team Leader/Children’s
Services Strategic Policy Officer
All young people aged 15.5 and beyond
to receive a Pathway Review rather than
a Looked After and Accommodated
Review.
Chairpersons of all Reviews
Pathway Reviews to continue after young
person has ceased to be
Accommodated
Chairpersons of all Reviews
(although this will not be possible
for LAAC Reviewing Officer)
Various employability/further education
initiatives developed:
• Work Experience Co-ordinator
appointed. Developing extended
work experience within ELC and
beyond
East Lothian Council Work
Experience Co-ordinator
•
Lothian Skills Centre (The Shed) Get
Ready for Work (GRfW) initiative
developed.
Integration Planning Officer
•
Bridges Project Way to Work
working in partnership with
Children’s Services.
Youth Justice and TAC Team
Area Manager and TAC Team
Leader
Rathbone ‘Life Skills’ Get Ready for
Work initiative developed with
priority for LAC/LAAC (and ex)
Young People.
Youth Justice and TAC Team
Area Manager and Skills
Development Scotland
Towards Leaving Care (TLC)
initiative developed with City of
Edinburgh and Midlothian Councils
in partnership with Jewel & Esk,
Stevenson and Telford Colleges
City of Edinburgh but with
involvement of East Lothian
Council Youth Justice and TAC
Team Area Manager, Inclusion
Officer and Educational
Psychology Service
•
•
•
Existing Council complaints procedure
agreed as most appropriate for use
East Lothian Council Complaints
Manager, TAC Team Leader, East
Lothian Council Youth Justice
and TAC Team Area Manager
New ‘Leaving Care’ document
developed based on Scottish
Government Template
TAC Team Leader and TAC Team
student placement
24
Listen
more and
assume
less
‘Your Views’
Action
Encourage wider use of ‘Your Views’
across Children’s Services
Who is responsible?
Involvement Officer
Ensure the data gathered through ‘Your
Views is used to inform service planning
and delivery
Involvement Officer
Recruitment and selection
Action
Develop further guidance on involving
young people in recruitment and
selection
Who is responsible?
Involvement Officer,
Who Cares? Scotland Children’s
Rights and Advocacy Worker
25
Appendix 2
Related reports
•
East Lothian LAAC Report 2008 (Children’s Services)
•
Looking after our Looked After Children Conference Report 2008
•
Implementing ASL in East Lothian 2009 (Education and Children’s
Services)
•
Draft LAC Review 2010 (Children’s Services)
•
Report on the Review of the Summer Activity Programme in East Lothian
•
Report on the Review of the Active Schools Programme in East Lothian
•
East Lothian Child Protection Committee Annual report 2009/20010
Please contact the Involvement Officer if you would like copies of any of these
reports
Telephone : 01620 827 167
E mail: children&[email protected]
26
Listen
more and
assume
less
Listen
more and
assume
less
Appendix 3
Why involve?
The need to involve children and young is also implicit in the following local,
national and international polices and legislation:
•
United Nations convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) (1989)
ratified in 1991 by the UK. Article 12.1 gives young people the right to
express their views in matters that affect them and to have account
taken of these views.
•
One of the overarching principles that apply to decision-making in
Children's Hearings is that the child has a voice.
•
Under Section 17 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995, local authorities
have a duty to find out and have regard to the views of the child, their
parents and any other relevant person.
•
When inspecting care services, the Care Commission takes into account
the national care standards and some of this deal with how children can
express their views (Standard 4 for Foster care and family placement
services, and Standards 18 and 19 for Care homes for children and
young people).
•
The Scottish Executive‘s Audit and Review, It’s everyone’s job to make
sure I’m alright (2002), highlights the need to listen to the views of
children and young people.
•
The Disability Discrimination Act (2005) Places a duty to promote
disability equality on all public bodies, including schools and local
authorities. Involvement of disabled children and young people is a key
requirement in meeting this duty.
•
Standards in Scotland's Schools Act 2000: The Act states that children
have the right to be educated in a school and that the views of children
and young people must be taken into account in all decisions which
significantly affect them.
•
The Education (Additional Support For Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 has
a requirement to seek the views of children and young people with
additional support needs.
27
28
•
A key element of Ministers' vision for Scotland's children is that they are
respected and responsible - they should be involved in decisions that
affect them, should have their voices heard and should be encouraged
to play an active and responsible role in their schools, communities and
society at large.
•
The East Lothian Community Engagement Strategy 2007 – 2010 states
that there is a need to increase the involvement of all communities
particularly children and young people.
Listen
more and
assume
less
Listen
more and
assume
less
Reported to Teams/Senior Managers and
Integrated Children’s Services Planning
Groups through:
Consultation and involvement methods
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
‘Have Your Say’
‘Your Views’
Viewpoint
Lime Survey
Feedback from for parents and carers involved in
child protection
Discussion/focus groups with children, young
people and families
Parent/carer representation in meetings
Complaints/comments fed through the
complaints officer
Feedback from Advocacy & Children’s Rights
Service
Parents Group (Additional Support for Learning)
Participation of service users in
conferences/events
Use of accessible methods (Pictures, graphics,
podcast) of gaining views of children and young
people with additional support needs
Feedback from service Users gathered through
service reviews – LAC Review, CIO Review, Duty
Team Review.
•
•
•
•
•
•
Monthly digest
Multi –Agency Participation Steering Group
Input to ICSP planning meetings
Annual Reports from CIO
Meetings with service users
Forthcoming Quarterly Reports.
Feedback
loop
Impacts on service outputs and outcomes for
children and young people
•
•
Outcomes are evidenced
change/improvement
Children, young people and their families tell us that
services become:
• More responsive to the needs of children and
families
• More accessible
• More efficient.
•
•
•
•
Young people’s views inform services,
planning and actions.
Young people influenced the new charging
policy for LAAC children and young people
who are over 16’s
Young people influenced the selection of the
new Children’s rights and Advocacy service
The views of parents/carers, children and
young people informed the findings and
recommendations made in the evaluation of
the Implementation of ASL
Parents and young people inform inspections
and reviews
Young people influenced the ‘Looking After
Our looked after Children’ action plan.