The Corporate Parenting Strategy and Children in Care Pledge makes consultation and participation of children a priority for the Council and partner agencies. This means that participation has become a mainstream activity and there are many opportunities for children and young people.
Participation with children and young people and the Council benefits all. Involving children and young people in planning the developments of the services helps to promote their resilience and develops self esteem. This also means the development of services is improved from the insight and ideas provided by children and young people.
Being able to participate does not come easily to all children and young people. When a child has difficulty in expressing their views about any decisions being made, they are offered an advocate. An advocate supports children and young people to voice their views and be involved and we commission advocacy from two independent providers.
A Children in Care Council (CICC) has been developed to ensure the continued involvement of children and young people in care. Members of the CICC attend national and regional events on behalf of the children in care in South Gloucestershire and report to central government and the Department for Education.
The development of a new website for Children in Care (CiC) is underway and will provide an alternative way to consult.
The thoughts of each fostered child is requested for the annual review of a foster carer and taken into account when considering the performance of the carer in their caring role. Young people are included in the training for foster carers, staff and Elected Members.
CiC and care leavers are trained to recruit staff and routinely included in interview panels for front line staff, with full voting rights.
The children and young people who are involved in these activities are employed by the Department for Children and Young People who will offer them experience of work for their future.
The Director for the Department for Children and Young People, Therese Gillespie, and the Executive Member for Children and Young People, Sheila Cook, meet with the CICC on a regular basis to ensure communication remains a priority.
Elected Members receive advice and training about the issues facing children and young people when they come into care. This is to aid consultation and communication. Young people who are care experienced provide specific training events for Elected Members and staff.
To ensure these developments remain mainstream activities, the Corporate Parenting Steering Group meets with the Children in Care Council and together the groups have developed a Children in Care Pledge. This sets the standard of service to be provided by the authority’s Council and partner agencies.
For more examples please select 'Children in care participation' from the 'Other websites' section on this page.