Involvement Good Practice

Below are key points to remember when undertaking consultation work (These are taken from Hear By Right – National Youth Agency):

The active involvement of children and young people works best when:

• There is visible commitment to the principle and practice of children and young people’s participation from senior managers and leaders.
• Participation is built into the organisation and is reflected in its strategic planning, services, resources and communication.
• Relevant staff, managers and leaders have the opportunity to develop the attitudes and skills to work effectively with children and young people. Children and young people’s involvement is valued.
• Children and young people are treated honestly and with respect and their contributions are taken seriously.
• Feedback to children and young people’s about the effects of their involvement is prompt and clear.
• Children and young people’s participation is rewarded and celebrated. Children and young people have equal opportunity to get involved.
• All children and young people have a right to participate in the decisions that affect them.
• Children and young people feel welcomed and included and are not discriminated against or prevented from participating effectively on grounds of ethnic origin, language, religion, culture, disability, age, gender, sexuality or where they live.
• Care and time is taken to go the extra mile to ensure children and young people facing greatest barriers to getting involved are aware of and can take up opportunities to have their say.
• Relevant training and support are provided to children and young people so that they can contribute effectively.
• Information is available to children and young people in good time and is accessible, jargon free and culturally appropriate. Policies and standards for the participation of children and young people are in place, evaluated and improved.
• What the organisation is trying to achieve and the intended benefits are clear from the start.
• Children and young people evaluate the process and changes that result from their point of view and help apply lessons learned.
• There are agreed quality standards and codes of conduct for working with children and young people to ensure their participation is safe, sound, effective and evaluated.

In York we have pooled information from across they City. This covers in more detail some of the most important points to be aware of when carrying out consultation and involvement work. Be careful though as there is no one right answer for each situation but there can be some wrong ones!

We have also included examples of policies from organisations across York. – and of course examples of how it works in practice!

Key questions:

• How can I involve children and young people in appointing staff?
• Acknowledging young peoples contributions.
• Working with Disabled Children and Young People.
• Working with very Young Children.
• Giving young people credit for their achievements

There have been some great ways of working with young people developed in York. Take a look at some recent examples of involvement work in York.