Listening and engaging with care experienced individuals: A good practice guide

The guide was co-produced with a group of Coram Voice A National Voice (ANV) Ambassadors from across England who have been involved in participation. 

The purpose is to support councillors, council officers and those working in other organisations who want to work with those with care experience for the purposes of co-production, consultation, training or other forms of engagement in which a person’s lived experience of children’s social care is a key part of the expertise they bring.

I think a lot of care experienced people don't have a platform where their voices are heard. Our Councils are there to support us and give us the best life and to do that they need hear about issues that we are facing. I think it's really important that those issues are resolved and this means involving us in finding the solution.

(ANV Ambassador)

There’s so many things that need to change around the foster care system. It is so important that the government, the people who have the power to make a difference, take some time to listen to children and young people who have experienced being in the care system. To them, this is just a job, but this is our lives. They have so much power to change the way things are.

(A National Voice Ambassador and Chair of ANV)

Listening and acting on lived experience should be at the heart of children’s social care and central to what anyone working with care experienced people does. We encourage all services that work with care experienced people to embrace participation and co-production in service design, development and evaluation.

 “Listen to young people’s views, they know what’s going on. You don’t.

(Care experienced young person, Bright Spots survey)

Children in care, care leavers and care experienced adults are experts in their own lives. Across public services there is increasing recognition that listening to those who services are designed for is essential to make services better. 

“We realised that services are better for young people when informed by young people's views

(Council representative, New Belongings Programme) 

Listening and engagement can make sure that services respond to the needs and experiences of those using the services – but they also have significant additional benefits for those who are engaged with.

Right to be heard

Listening to those with care experience about what is important to them and making sure this is reflected in their care and the services they access respects their human rights. 

The young people who helped us develop this guide stressed that making sure that care experienced voices are heard is ‘a duty, not charity’. They felt passionate that professionals should adopt a ‘nothing about us, without us’ approach. 

In line with Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) every child has the right to be heard and to have their views taken seriously. This includes decisions about their own care, as well as decisions about the care system more widely. 

“Since I came into care, I have had no control over any aspects of my life. Social services control where I live, what I do and how I do it. I hate living in care.

(Teenager in care, Bright Spots survey)

Develop skills and grow

It [becoming an A National Voice Ambassador ]… changed my life. It showed me that somebody wanted to hear what I had to say and that I was important and that my experiences mattered and I hadn't gone through all this rubbish stuff for no reason and it helped me find my path and I wouldn't be where I am without it.” 

(Care experienced ANV Ambassador) 

Involvement in participation and co-production helps children, young people and adults with lived experience grow by developing new skills. When done well, the involvement of those with lived experience in engagement activities can lead to increased confidence and development of skills in areas such as communication, public speaking, project planning, workshop facilitation and much more. It can open up new opportunities and support them to achieve aims in their lives. It provides insight into how systems work and how they can best inform change.

Support those engaged to feel heard and valued

One of the biggest problems that I have faced as a care experienced person is the feeling of voicelessness and that your voice doesn't matter and that the things that occurred to you, the things that have mattered so much to you when they did happen... it's like they didn't and the more you share it the realer it becomes and the more out there it becomes and you might find other people that relate and there is a record of it so that people can actually see it and go, that happened. 

(Care experienced young person involved in Coram’s ‘Voices Through Time’ Project) 

Care experienced children, young people and adults have a wealth of knowledge and creativity. Without the right spaces to be heard, this remains untapped. Being heard empowers and helps people feel valued and important. 

Having a voice improves well-being

“[Being involved] has helped me feel heard and feel positive about the future of care leavers. This has also made me feel like some things can be changed for the better. This is a sense of relief because sometimes in the care system you feel like you’re going to get nowhere. You feel trapped and lost and forever lonely but this has all these changes that have come into place through the New Belongings (Project) have carried on to benefit many others and I would like to carry on seeing these changes progress and stay in place in the future. So I am really happy to be a part of this.  

(Care experienced young person involved in New Belongings Programme) 

Bright Spots research found that feeling included in decision making was associated with children in care’s well-being. The odds of having ‘very high’ well-being increased 1.5 times if young people felt included in decision-making compared with those who did not feel included (Selwyn et al, 2022). 

Other research has found that having a sense of control over your life is linked to self-esteem and fewer mental health problems, and that young people who see events as largely outside their control have more emotional problems, especially when coping with stress.  

Participation can be seen as a protective factor for vulnerable children and young people leading to increased levels of confidence, self-efficacy and self-worth

(Diaz, C. 2020)

Reducing isolation and building a community

I am proud of the fact that I come from a lonely background not having much of a support network when I first moved into care and then I found [my children in care council]. It's helped me feel much better in myself, positive mental health and making friendships and actually communicating with the world again 

(Care experienced young person speaking about the importance of Children in Care Councils) 

Many care experienced young people tell Coram Voice that when they first came together with other care experienced young people it was the first time they realised that others had similar experiences to themselves. 

Groups like Children in Care Councils can provide a safe space where they can open up to others who understand what they have been through, making them feel less isolated. 

Through activities with other care experienced people, there are opportunities to develop networks of support, share knowledge and experiences, learn from each other and have fun. They see that they are not alone and that others have faced the same challenges they face. 

Meaningful engagement of people with lived experience focuses, not just on what their experience is, but what this tells us about how to act in the future. Whether celebrating positive experiences that we should replicate or highlighting poor practices we should avoid, meaningful engagement should inform what we do. 

This does not mean that we must commit to making all the changes that are suggested, but there must be a willingness to seriously consider what is being said and whether it is possible to change our policy or practice. 

Through the eyes of the children… participation was about having meaningful conversations with professionals who they trusted and who provided opportunities for them to have a say in what was going on. Participation for these children was as much about feeling that what they had to say mattered and was taken into account, rather than simply about them getting what they wanted. The outcome is therefore not necessarily what children are judging when considering their satisfaction with decision-making. Rather, the process is important to them in its own right. The children’s narratives also told us that they needed support for participation to take place effectively

 (Emma Davies and Shirley Jülich, 2000)The Lundy Model of Participation

The Lundy Model of Participation 

Professor Laura Lundy developed a model to help realise children and young people’s right to be heard. Lundy’s model sets out some core principles that can help organisations and individuals ensure all participation and engagement, whether through surveys, individual discussions, group work or other activities, is meaningful for all involved. 

The Lundy model provides a useful framework to make sure that we not only listen but act on what we hear. The model was developed in relation to children and young people, but the principles are also applicable to care experienced adults.

Space

Ensuring that you give those with care experience access to safe and inclusive spaces so that they are able to express their views.

Key questions to ask yourself

1. Have you asked about this topic before? How long ago? And what did they say? 
2. Is the venue welcoming, comfortable and (where relevant) child-friendly? Does the environment enable everyone to relax and not feel intimidated? Are appropriate refreshments provided?)
3. Are there other people in the space that can overhear discussions? Could this affect what people say? This could include foster carers, residential care staff or other people?
4. Are the staff team trained and able to support appropriately? Do they have knowledge of the topic or area? Do staff have all the relevant information?
5. Have you completed a risk assessment, thinking about how to keep everyone physically and emotionally safe?  
6. Have you proactively recruited care experienced people to take part from a variety of backgrounds and experiences? If so, what measures have you taken to ensure this is an inclusive and safe space for them?
7. Are buildings accessible for all care experienced people (including disabled individuals)?

Supporting care experienced people to give their views

Think carefully about who asks children, young people and adults for their views and ensure they have the support they need to give their views. Children and young people are most helpfully engaged by people who they trust and who they have had a chance to build up a trusting relationship with. 

Make arrangements to check in and debrief after your session to make sure that participants are okay and provide contact details if they would like to follow up or have concerns.

Provide children, young people and adults with information about who they can speak to if they are upset or worried during or after any engagement (this could be someone they trust like a foster carer or social worker or information about organisations like Childline or The Samaritans). There may be local services that can meet this need, so make sure you explore this. 

Practice examples 

• Coventry City Council Young Inspectors: In Coventry 40 young people have been trained as ‘young inspectors’ to evaluate how services are doing from their perspectives. Their work is leading to change and young people are enjoying taking part too.
• Sheffield Council Voice and Influence workers: Sheffield regularly take part in the Bright Spots Programme. It is one of many ways in which they are committed to listening, and importantly, responding to how children in care and care leavers feel they are doing. They have created new paid posts for care experienced young people to further support their voice and influence work and create even greater impact and change.
• Hertfordshire County Council menu of opportunities: Hertfordshire created a series of opportunities for young people to get involved in designing and implementing changes to the services that the council offered their care leavers.

Voice 

Support care experienced children, young people and adults to have their voices heard and express themselves in a way that’s best for them.

Key questions to ask yourself

1. Have care experienced people been provided with the information they need to form a view?
2. Can you share questions or what you want to talk about before meeting with care experienced people?
3. Does everyone know and understand that their participation is voluntary?
4. Have you asked what people feel comfortable with sharing/ not sharing and let them know that they should only share what they are happy to share?
5. Are creative, fun or rewarding activities being used to support people to express their views on things that are important to them?
6. Is there enough time scheduled to delve into the topic/s?
7. Have you planned breaks and/or provided a separate quiet space where people can take a break should they need one?
8. Are resources or documents accessible to everyone? Are they easy to read, youth friendly? Using language that they are happy with and understand? Do you need support from Interpreters or someone who knows British Sign Language? 
9. Have you made people aware of who they can speak to if they need further support before or after the meeting?
10. Are there opportunities within the agenda for people to talk about things that are important to them?
11. How will you ensure that people are not identifiable by what they tell you? 
12. Have you made people aware of how you will safeguard them and when you may need to break confidentiality if what they say raises concerns for the safety of themselves or other people? 

The Importance of Informed Consent

Right from the beginning everyone involved should know what is being asked of them and why, this is part of informed consent. The better informed they are about the process the better they are able to decide whether they want to be involved. 

Consider how you will do the following to ensure informed consent:

• make sure that you are transparent about what is happening with the information, who will read, hear or otherwise engage with it and what it will be used for.
• make sure that individuals have knowingly opted in to participate and share their views. For under 16’s formal consent from a social worker or others with parental responsibility should be gained.

Practice examples

Devon County Council the Promise: Devon have co-produced ‘The Promise’, which is a list of commitments to children whilst they are in care. They are based on what children say matters. The Bright Spots findings, along with other work, helped shape the work.

Audience

Ensure that children, young people and adults are listened to by the right people who have the power to make changes.

Key questions to ask yourself

1. Are appropriate decision makers involved and engaged?
2. Have you spoken with internal or external partners that should be included and who would be affected by what you discuss? (For example, education, health or housing)
3. Do people know who their views are being shared with, how this will happen and what will happen to them afterwards?
4. Do decision makers know how views will feed into their decision-making process?
5. Is the person receiving views the person with the power to make (or influence) decisions? 
6. Is there a clear and agreed process for communicating back to participants? (For example, if you are doing a report summarising the views shared, how will this be shared with the people who contributed?)   

Practice examples 

• Dorset: ‘You said –Together we did this’ – a new approach to planning with young people: Dorset are changing how young people will be involved in developing the service. Moving from a model of young people telling them the priorities to change a ‘You said – We did’ model to one where solutions are developed together through a ‘You said – We did this together’ model.
• Medway Council MCYPC, CiCC Partnership with Corporate Parenting Board: Medway’s Children and Young People Council MCYPC is a forum where young people in Medway’s care can come together. They meet with the Director of Children’s Services and other senior managers, discuss issues and concerns about the care system, suggest changes and help with the future developments of these improvements. The positive partnership with the corporate parenting board has been highlighted as a strength by Ofsted. Their work has included the creation of professional standards for social workers.

Influence

Ensure that care experienced views are taken seriously and acted upon, where appropriate.

Key questions to ask yourself

1. Are the views of people with lived experience considered in the decision-making process, and how will it be recorded? 
2. Have those who shared their views been told about how their views have impacted a decision – and if not, why? Have you shared it with all those who will be affected by the decision, not just those that took part?
3. When and how will people know or see the impact of their participation? 
4. Are there procedures in place for people to hold decision makers to account for their decisions? Is there a complaints procedure and do people know the complaints procedure?

The Importance of a Feedback Loop

When engaging people with lived experience put in place a robust feedback loop, so that everyone knows what has happened and what is happening next as a result of what you have heard. 

Consider how you will do the following to create a feedback loop that works for everyone involved: 

• create a clear plan for how you will feedback to people during the project and after about the impact of their participation once the engagement concludes. You don’t have to wait until the end of a project to feedback, these plans can also include regular updates if the project demands it.
• co-create ways to report back to all participants by talking about it early on. Should the feedback be in person, an email or in a different format (e.g film, newsletter or podcast).
• regularly review goals and progress towards those goals, this means you can be clear with the feedback you are providing to participants 
• If working with partners, encourage them to also feedback to participants either together or separately. 

The Importance of Evaluation 

Evaluation should be the last stage of the feedback loop. 

Evaluation can sometimes seem like a huge task, but put simply, evaluation is about using information that you collect to make a judgement about how successful your project has been in making the difference you intended to the people that you set out to support. By taking the time to reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of your work with care experienced children, young people and adults is the best way to achieve greater outcomes for future projects.

You can think about evaluation on three levels: 

• personal – how have the individuals felt about being involved in the project? What have they learnt from the experience? How could the experience be improved next time? 
• organisational – what difference has involving care experienced children, young people and adults made to the project? 
• system – what difference has involving care experienced children, young people and adults made to the organisation, to your partners or local community? 

Practice examples

• York City Council I Still Matter CLF Influencing local housing policy: York’s care leaver forum, ‘I Still Matter’, are really proud of the housing policy changes they have influenced in their local area. They used their collective voice to challenge senior managers and elected members to work together more effectively and improve housing experiences for care leavers.
• Wakefield Council Build Our Futures CiCC influencing training and Corporate Parenting Strategy: Build our Futures is the Children in Care Council in Wakefield. They were really busy in 2021/22 and created a short video to share highlights from their work, including training for social workers, a fun day and the inclusion of their priorities in the Corporate Parenting Strategy.
• Sheffield Young People’s Scrutiny Panel: making services accountable: Following their results from the Bright Spots surveys where children in care and care leavers shared their views about the issues that were important to them, Sheffield set up a ‘reverse scrutiny panel’ of young people to monitor and challenge progress on the action plans that were developed based on the findings from the surveys.

Language

It is important to think about the language we use about and with people who have lived experience of care. Being in care can come with many labels, which sometimes have negative connotations. From the start, it is useful to talk to those you are working alongside about language preferences and revisit these conversations over time.

Practice example

North Yorkshire County Council Care Champions CiCC and CLF: Tackling the language of care training video: North Yorkshire’s young people created a video showing how the language used by social care professionals can affect young people. The film has been used at conferences, in meetings with senior managers and in training for newly qualified social workers. 

Confidentiality and identification

Not all care experienced people want to be identified as care experienced. It’s an individual choice how much we all share about ourselves. Those with care experience may have experienced stigma associated with being care experienced or have other personal reasons to keep this to themselves. They may also be happy to share their experiences in care, but prefer these not to be linked to them personally. With modern technology, what you have shared once becomes part of the public record and can be difficult to remove. 

What someone is happy to share now, may be something they would have liked to be kept private when they are older. It is therefore very important to help care experienced people to think about what they are happy to share, provide options to engage on their terms, including remaining anonymous and how information can be kept confidential. 

When engaging care experienced people consider how you can: 

• remind participants taking part in group sessions to only share what they are comfortable sharing and not to repeat what others have said outside of the group
• provide forms of engagement that protect anonymity to encourage participants to be open and honest (For example, anonymous surveys or feedback forms or encouraging groups to create collective case studies that speak to lived experiences, but do not identify individuals)
• anonymise feedback in reports or recordings 
• provide information when other organisations request to use the information collected, including whether the shared information will appear elsewhere and if they are comfortable with that
• provide opportunities to withdraw consent for personal stories to be shared, this could include editing or taking down webinars where someone has spoken about their lived experience.

Practice examples 

Hull Dream on video: Hull’s Children in Care Council YVIC made a film, ‘Dream On’, because they wanted to tell the story of coming into care and the people around them. The film acts as a reminder to always keep their work focused on children and the things that are important to their well-being, without singling out individual children’s experiences. 

Bexley children in care council engagement through fictional characters: In response to attendance struggles, Bexley’s Children in Care Council was built into an existing homework club, where they included a ‘bitesize’ engagement activity. They utilised drama skills and role play to create a fictional character ‘Charlie’, through which they explored children’s experiences, for example, discussing what going to school is like for a child in care and reflecting on what they thought would have happened to Charlie in that situation.

The Care Leaders podcast: Care Leaders, Karylle and Luke have recorded a podcast reflecting on their experience and sharing their stories, including what they would have changed in hindsight and what to think about when engaging care experienced people. 

Risk assessments and ethical considerations

A risk assessment helps keep everyone safe and helps you think through how to ethically conduct engagement. Regardless of the format of the engagement (online or in person) you should always do a risk assessment. 

When conducting a risk assessment make sure you identify: 

• the potential risks and all the people who might be affected by them
• the safety measures needed to address the potential risks (this includes safety measures already in place and what else could be put in place)
• what steps will be taken in an emergency (For example, do you need to consider staffing levels so that there is someone who can step out and support individuals if needed, should you collect emergency contact details, who will you inform if an emergency takes place)? 
• whether the engagement will involve discussion/s of sensitive topics (for example, sexual activity, drug use, safeguarding)?
• whether the engagement could cause stress or anxiety or other harm to the care experienced children or adults you engage?

Many of the considerations in this guide can inform your risk assessment, by helping you think about the needs of care experienced people and how to ensure you work in a safe way. 

At the start of any new project or session, a good opening activity is to invite participants to co-design ‘group rules’ – our group, our rules. This could include rules such as, respect what others say even if you disagree, don’t talk over each other and take a break when needed.

Safeguarding 

Children and young people

Keeping children and young people safe should be the priority of anyone working with them. When asking children and young people about their care experience they might tell you something that raises concerns about the safety of themselves or other children and young people. 

Make sure you understand your local safeguarding procedures, who do you need to report concerns to, how to record and respond to concerns, before you start engagement. It is important to be clear with children and young people before they engage that if you have any safeguarding concerns about their safety or that of others, you will need to follow the safeguarding procedure, and tell them what that procedure involves. 

Adults

If you are worried about an adult taking part in your engagement activity, you can contact the local authority adult social care team to report your concerns. You can also speak to the police about the situation if you are concerned they are at risk of serious harm or have been the victim of a crime. 

As with children, you would speak to the individual to let them know that you plan to share information because you are concerned. Ideally you would want to gain the person’s consent to share information however, raising a safeguarding concern may be justified without consent in certain circumstances. This includes situations where there is a serious risk to the person or others, where there is a public interest consideration or issue, or where a best interest decision needs to be made (where the adult lacks capacity to make the decision). You must record the rationale for making the decision to raise the concern. 

Reward, recognition and remuneration

Everyone’s time is valuable and this should be recognised. Children, young people and adults take time out of their schedules to support your project or organisation, so take time and care deciding how to recognise this. Although it can be, recognition does not need to be expensive. There are many cost-effective ways to show appreciation. 

Consider the age of the participants when deciding the way to recognise their contribution. Different types of activities and rewards may be better depending on the age and circumstances of those you are engaging. Ask those taking part for their ideas and preferences.

Rewards and ways to show you value the people you engage can include: 

• vouchers – age appropriate (for example, Love2Shop, Amazon, supermarket) 
• trips and activities for groups and individuals including overnight stays and residentials
• acknowledging the achievements of individuals or groups by nominating them for local, regional or national awards (for example, Children in Care/Care Leavers annual awards, Mayoral awards or local community awards)
• payment direct to the individual 
• pre-payment cards 
• A reference, certificate or other acknowledgment of their participation
• A thank you card, birthday card, religious or cultural celebration card 
• work experience or shadowing opportunities 

When considering rewarding people for being a part of your project, the basic starting point should be reimbursement of costs incurred. Costs incurred may include, but are not limited to:

• travel expenses to and from the activity 
• meals required while taking part in activities or meetings 
• accommodation required for any overnight stays 
• carer support 
• childcare costs 
• lost earnings (if someone needs to miss work to participate in an activity)

What to think about?

• consider how others are being rewarded for their participation. Are you asking a care experienced person to participate (for example, at a conference or recruitment panel) for free when others participating are being paid to be there, either directly or as part of their work? 
• have you decided on whether you will make payments upfront or reimburse those you engage afterwards? Those on low income may struggle to participate if their expenses are not covered up front. 
• when arranging transport, will the participant be able to get to and from the engagement and feel safe to do so. Do you need to arrange a taxi to the station as well as train tickets to get them home safely or are they happy to take a bus? What if plans change? Is transport needed for an accompanying carer, for example, for foster carers coming with a child, or an assistant for a person with disabilities?
• if you intend to spend time with people prior to an activity by meeting them before or giving them the questions and asking them to think about their answers in advance – will you compensate them for this time? 
• for some people, payment for their participation may affect the welfare benefits they receive or there may be restrictions on their right to work. They may prefer to have their contribution recognised in a different way. Ask participants at the start of the project how they might like to be rewarded. This helps to ensure that the process is as inclusive as possible.

Top tips from care experienced people 

• think about how you can reward everyone for their involvement. Those organising the engagement opportunity should always appreciate any time given. Some people will be involved for 5 minutes and some people involved for the whole duration of the project. You may need to adopt a variety of ways in which to reward contribution
• acknowledge how the work people have done has contributed towards the aim(s) of the project. This often makes their involvement feel worth the time and effort
• ask people whether taking part has made a difference to them or if they have learnt things, and acknowledge any changes or development in their personal skills, such as confidence, research skills, public speaking
• involve participants in deciding on the reward they receive, to ensure it is appropriate and meaningful for them
• food can be a great way to help people feel welcome and encourage participation. Make sure it is appropriate for the audience (for example, child friendly, halal, vegetarian or vegan) and that you know participants dietary requirements. Depending on the space, participants could perhaps be involved in planning and making it – cooking together and sharing food can be a great chance for everyone to get to work together. 

Creating a culture of engagement and participation 

For effective engagement you need a commitment to hearing and acting on the voices of those with lived experience across your organisation. Culture is not static but something that can change over time. 

The impact of having more care experienced young people embedded within our service has helped with a longer-term change in culture. This is quite subtle but immensely important.

 (Council representative, New Belongings Project)

Consider how you will do the following to establish a culture for participation:

• establish a shared understanding of participation
• ensure leaders and managers actively support and sustain the development of participation
• ensure that all staff are committed to participation
• develop a participation strategy  
• show evidence of participation in organisational policies and documents
• publicise your commitment to participation so that everyone knows that you believe in it and are committed 

When you engage people with lived experience you should be prepared to be challenged and sometimes have difficult conversations. You will need to be open to actively listen to alternative points of view and acknowledge different people’s experiences. 

When engaging people with lived experience, it is important to be flexible and adapt to their needs and circumstances. Even the best plans may not work out, so it is important to continuously reassess alongside those you are working with whether your approach is working, respond to circumstances and make changes when needed. 

Active inclusion 

Think about who may be left out of the engagement opportunities you are planning and what you can do to adapt what you do to support ‘seldom-heard groups’. For example: 

• younger children
• those for whom English is not their first language
• disabled children and others who may communicate in a different way
• anyone living in different places, such as, in prison or living at distance from the council
• those who do not have access to the internet if you are using online forms of engagement.

Practice example

West Sussex – finding the way that works: West Sussex used the ‘Your Life Your Care’ survey to capture the views of their children in care. The authority supported a disabled young person to answer questions from the survey by adapting questions into picture cards.

Forms of engagement

There are lots of different ways of hearing the voices of care experienced children, young people and adults. The local authorities and services that do this best are those that provide a range of opportunities for those with lived experience to get involved in and be heard. 

[You’ve] got to think of different types of ways of engaging young people through different roles. So not every young person wants to be a researcher, not every young person wants to be an advisor, not every young person wants to be consulted or fill out surveys. So therefore, you need all these different approaches on offer, to hear all the different voices, because not one way will work for every young person.

(Jessica Pitt, 2021)

Opportunities to be heard can be at both the individual and collective level: 

1. Individual participation: focused on understanding a person’s experiences and how they are involved in decisions about their care, arrangements for day-to-day living and planning for their future
2. Collective participation: exploring shared views at a service level and how these influence development and delivery of the services people receive. 

When we talk about listening and responding to what care experienced people say, we often use different words. Co-production differs from engagement and participation in the following ways:

• co-production: This involves people with lived experience working alongside professionals at every stage of the process, from planning to implementation and evaluation. It is a collaborative partnership where the goal is for power and responsibility to be shared.
• participation: This means people are included in activities or processes, often by providing input or taking part in discussions. While more inclusive than engagement, it may still not involve equal partnership or shared decision making. 
• engagement: This typically refers to efforts to involve people by seeking their input, feedback, or opinions. It often involves consultation but does not necessarily include shared decision-making or ongoing involvement.

 “Co-production is an approach to decision-making and service design, rather than a specific method…The term co-production refers to a way of working where service providers and users work together to reach a collective outcome. The approach is value driven and built on the principle that those who are affected by a service are best placed to help design it.

(Involve) 

Practice example

New Belongings Programme: Coram Voice worked with 8 local authorities and their care leavers to improve services for care leavers. Bright spots surveys and the Baker Dixon self-assessment-framework identified what care leavers felt made their lives good and what could be improved. Based on findings the local authorities co-produced solutions with their young people to the issues identified, such as providing specialist mental health support and trialling ring door bells to help care leavers feel safe where they lived. 

The core message of the New Belongings programme is simple: to deliver the best support and services to care leavers you must work alongside young people. 

Co-production and participation is a journey. With the right commitment professionals and young people can work together to make things better. Although it is not always perfect, continually aiming to bring people together, to listen and to act on what you hear is what is important.

(Leaving Care Team Leader, New Belongings Programme)

What type of engagement should I use?

Engaging care-experienced children and young people 

Care experienced people need time, support and a transparent process to participate meaningfully and effectively to influence change. Some people might prefer to participate individually though a conversation or survey, where others might prefer to be involved in a group. You may be able to use existing evidence and feedback as well as setting up new forms of engagement. Talking to care experienced people about the best way to include them is an important first step in choosing which methods of engagement will work best for what you want to do.

Existing engagement

Individual engagement

There are many ways in which those with care experience are already engaged, lots of this work is part of the work the council does. This includes:  

• one-to-one relationships and the day-to-day conversations workers/carers have with the children and young people they support
• views recorded as part of assessment, planning and case review meetings
• children or young people attending and being actively involved in meetings, such as, chairing their own reviews
• using advocacy services to bring children and young people’s views to the attention of decision-makers, including non-instructed advocacy for those children who cannot communicate their wishes and feelings directly
• engaging in a process of family-led decision-making
• making a complaint through a designated complaints procedure
• apps, social media or other online tools that enable them to communicate their wishes. When using online platforms, bear in mind that there may be reasons, such as safeguarding concerns, that means that care experienced children and young people may not have access to the internet. 

This information might be valuable within the decision-making processes for services. Can you collate common themes and insights from these conversations?

When engaging with care experienced adults individually, think about conversations you are already having and opportunities to engage. You could also use: 

• social media or other online tools
• charities who work with care experienced adults
• community or voluntary groups who support care experienced adults.

Collective engagement

It might be that you want to talk to children and young people or adults in a group as part of consultation or a longer project. There might be existing ways in which to hear lived experiences of care, or you could set up new forms of engagement, including:

• national, regional or local participation groups convened by charities, service providers, central government or local authorities that bring together care experienced children and young people (e.g. local authority Children in Care Councils; national groups such as A National Voice and the Young People’s Benchmarking forum; Children’s Commissioner advisory groups etc.)
• care experienced people involved in the recruitment of staff
• care experienced people involved in the development and delivery of training
• children’s and young people’s views shared as part of Ofsted inspection reports
• consultations or research conducted with care experienced people in receipt of services, for example, the views of children in care and care leavers gathered through Bright Spots surveys.
• creative projects that allow young people to express wishes, feelings and priorities
• child- or youth-led action research.

When engaging with care experienced adults you might also be able to utilise avenues such as: 

• staff members who have lived experienced of care
• other services such as housing providers or universities.

Practice examples 

Somerset Children in Care Council talking about how they were involved in setting up new children’s homes and how children and young people were involved throughout.

Events and Conferences 

Much preparation work is needed if you are asking care experienced people to talk or be involved in an event or conference where they are talking about, or because of, their lived experience. 

When working with and supporting speaker/s think about how you will: 

• allow the person/s to decide what they want to share or not share. Give them time to prepare something and support them to edit and practice. Ensure that they remain in control of sharing their experiences
• allow the person/s to write their biography and ask how they want you to refer to them when introducing them at the event
• involve care experienced people from the very beginning - can speaker/s be involved in the planning and the design of the event?
• ensure that you provide information about the whole event, including the intended audience, numbers of people, activities that are taking place and intended outcomes from the day
• remunerate or reward their participation 
• make sure that the speaker/s have consented to photographs or videos being shared after the event
• allow the speaker/s to see the space and practice with any technology in advance
• follow up with speaker/s afterwards to debrief and make sure they are ok, referring them to additional support if needed. (NB: see earlier section on informed consent)

Other things you should consider when planning an event with people with care experience: 

• are there other ways in which lived experience voices can be included – a video, audio or a reading? 
• are there activities or discussions planned that could be triggering? 
• how you will manage question and answer sessions which involve care experienced people. Do panellists have ‘no go’ questions, do you have a procedure to vet questions before they are asked or a process to manage and support the speaker/s if they don’t want to answer a question? Stepping in may be important for all groups, but especially for a younger speaker/s 
• ensure you have the right staff for the event and that there is someone to support speaker/s. If involving lots of people with lived experience, make sure there are enough staff to provide additional support. You may also wish to consider a quiet space and provide counsellors throughout the event. 

Recruitment and selection of staff 

There can be many benefits of involving care experienced people in the recruitment and selection of staff.

• you can see how candidates interact with care experienced people
• it will give a positive and powerful message to candidates that lived experience input is valued and taken seriously.

You can consider involving children, young people and adults with lived experience in any recruitment. However, you might decide it is not always appropriate to do so. You might find it more useful to involve care experienced people in the recruitment of staff who will work directly with them or make decisions about the services they receive.

The recruitment and selection process involves a series of tasks, most of which follow each other in sequence. It is worth remembering that care experienced people’s engagement can take place throughout, or just at specific points in the process. If you are involving children, young people or adults with care experience then it is all the more important that you take time to get it right. Once a vacancy appears, or a new post is created, you could involve care experienced people in the following elements: 

Reviewing or writing the job description and personal specification 

Reviewing or writing a job description is a great way to engage care experienced people right from the beginning of the process. You should think about this even if you have a job description in place from your previous recruitment process. Use group discussion to identify the knowledge, skills, abilities and experience they expect from staff.

Short-listing

Make sure any short-listing form is in accessible language that all children, young people and adults with lived experience will understand. Short-listing will work better if there is a good understanding of the job description and person specification. 

To help everyone get the hang of short-listing they can review applications with a worker to begin with, see how it is done, then start again and rescore candidates themselves.

Interviewing

The standard approaches to involving children, young people and adults with lived experience have been to set up a separate panel which interviews candidates in parallel with a professional panel or to have a young person or adult represented on a panel alongside professionals. Other approaches include children, young people and adults creating job specific activities, scenario or presentations for candidates to complete. 

Those involved in the interviews should have been involved in developing interview questions. This is important because they will feel more comfortable asking questions which they want to ask, and they will also be better placed to measure the appropriateness of the responses.

Making a choice

A number of questions arise if you involve children, young people and adults with lived experience with professionals, or as an additional panel; who makes the decision? Are they equal? Is their role advisory? Is the decision shared? Clarifying this from the outset is essential. You could ask human resources to support you with this. 

However you plan to involve those with lived experience in recruitment you should think about:

• timing: consider the timing of their involvement and whether it will involve anyone missing school or college. If so, you will need to inform social workers, carers and the school/college. This might also affect adults if they need to miss work
• ensure you provide training in:
  • understanding the recruitment and selection process 
  • understanding the importance of being non-judgmental, diversity, equality and anti-discrimination
  • how to score candidates and expectations of taking notes during the interviews
  • confidentiality in relation to candidates and others involved in the decision-making process
  • have an agreed approach on how their scores and feedback will be used to make the final decision.

Co-production, participation and engagement is a journey. Although it may not always be perfect, continually aiming to bring people together, to listen and to act on what you hear, is what is important.

We may not have always met the definition of coproduction and we recognise that co-production is the gold standard and we can’t co-produce everything, but it is still valuable to engage, educate and involve people in the work that we do and we have learnt to ask ourselves questions like: What can we learn for next time? Did people feel they made a difference? Was this true coproduction?

(Hertfordshire as part of New Belongings Programme) 

 

‘Just because you can’t do it as well as you would like to, does not mean you shouldn’t do it at all.

 (Prof. Laura Lundy)

Advocacy - getting support from another person to help you express your views and wishes, and help you stand up for your rights

Care experience - A care experienced person is anyone who, at any stage in their life and for any length of time, was in care. This includes, for example, being looked after by foster carers, in a residential children’s home, with family or friends or in other arrangements including hospitals, supported accommodation or secure units. Someone who is adopted after being in care is also care experienced. 

Care leaver - A care leaver is a young person aged 16-25 who has been ‘looked after’ and is entitled to ongoing support from their council. Support depends on when and how long you were in care for. Visit Coram Voice to find out more.

Children in Care - If a child aged 0-17 has been in the care of their council for more than 24 hours they are ‘in care’, also known as being ‘looked after’. 

Children in Care Council – A group that represents all Children in Care from a council. The Children in Care Council gives children and young people the chance to shape and influence the services they receive at every level. 

Consent - permission, approval, or agreement

Consultation - the process by which children and young people or adults are asked for their views and opinions.

Co-production - Working together as equals to produce a product, service or activity

Decision maker - the person or group of individuals who is responsible for making strategically important decisions based on a number of variables, including time constraints, resources available, the amount and type of information available and the number of stakeholders involved.

Governance - The way a group of people, such as a charity, do things. Governance structures are put in place to help charities comply with the law and relevant regulations. We use it to make sure that we are working towards fulfilling our vision that every child and young person has a safe and happy childhood, and the foundations they need to thrive.

Influence - The power to have an important effect on someone or something. 

Involvement - describes the inclusion of children and young people in some form of decision-making process

Kinship care - Children whose parents are unable to look after them on a short or long term basis and are cared for by other relatives, like grandparents, uncles or siblings, or by other adults who have a connection to the child, such as neighbours or a close friend of the family.

Lived experience of care - Being in care or a care leaver or someone with care experience means you are a person with ‘lived experience of care’.

Model (of participation) - A structure that we can follow to help us improve participation.

Monitoring - Keeping an eye on something, including keeping records of activity and feedback. 

Participation - the process by which individuals and/or groups of individuals can influence the decision-making process and bring about change 

Policies - A set of rules or guidelines for an organisation and staff to follow.

Case Review - A case review for a child looked after is a meeting with all those that are concerned about a child’s care and care plan. The meeting will look at how things are going, whether the care plan meets the child’s needs and whether there need to be any changes for the future.

Strategy - A plan of action to achieve something.

Clive Diaz, Decision Making in Child and Family Social Work: Perspectives on Children’s Participation, 2020 Policy Press University

Davies, E., and Jülich, S. (2000). Children's participation in decision-making: Protecting children's rights.

Pitt, J. (2021). Creative Approaches to Engaging Children and Young People in Research and Consultation.

Rebekah Pierre, Free Loaves on Fridays: The Care System As Told By People Who Actually Get It, 2024 Unbound

www.coramvoice.org.uk/for-professionals/bright-spots-programme/

www.ymcageorgewilliams.uk/sites/default/files/202211/Typology%202.0_FINAL%20VERSION_published.pdf 

www.coramvoice.org.uk/for-professionals/bright-spots/resource-bank/10091/ 

www.coramvoice.org.uk/latest/10000-children-and-young-people-in-care-share-views-on-their-wellbeing-in-largest-survey-of-its-kind/

www.local.gov.uk/sites/default/files/documents/15.11%20Corporate%20parenting_v05.pdf 

www.unicef.org.uk/what-we-do/un-convention-child-rights/ 

www.qub.ac.uk/Research/case-studies/childrens-participation-lundy-model.html 

www.involve.org.uk/resources/knowledge-base/what/participation 

www.coram.org.uk/resource/resource-baker-dixon-leaving-care-services-self-assessment-framework/ 

www.childfriendlygovernance.org/blog/laura-lundy

How we developed this guide

The guide was co-produced with a group of A National Voice (ANV) Ambassadors from across England who have been involved in participation. The group took part in a workshop led by Coram Voice to discuss what should be included in the guide. They also:

• chose examples of good participation practice 
• created top tips for those wishing to undertake participation 
• created questions to ask for those wishing to undertake participation.

The first draft was then written by the Participation Team at Coram Voice. This was discussed at a second online workshop. It was also sent out for comments to a wider group of ANV Ambassadors. 

About Coram Voice 

Coram Voice, part of the Coram Group of charities, is a leading children’s rights charity that get young voices heard in decisions that matter to them. It works to improve the lives of children in care, care leavers and others who depend upon the help of the state. We: 

• make sure children know their rights and helps them to navigate the system, challenge decisions and make sure their rights and well-being are protected. 
• empower children to have a role in decision-making processes. 
• improve the system and help them know that someone is listening and taking action. 

During almost fifty years of experience championing the voice of those in the care system we have seen that real and effective change can only happen when the voice of those with lived experience is at the heart of the change-making process.

About A National Voice  

A National Voice (ANV) is the National Children in Care Council of England. Our mission is to bring care experienced young people together to find their voice and use it to improve the lives of all children in care and care leavers. 

We work with others to amplify young people’s voice to create an environment in which young people’s views are sought valued and acted upon.

ANV was established over two decades ago by care experienced young people, to make sure children in care and care leaver’s voices were heard at a national level. ANV joined Coram Voice in 2017 and continues its work through national projects.

About the Bright Spots Programme and Resource Bank 

The Bright Spots Programme is a research and service improvement tool that works to ensure that care-experienced children and young people have a say in decisions that impact their lives. Developed by Coram Voice in partnership with Professor Julie Selwyn at the Rees Centre, University of Oxford, with funding from the Hadley Trust, the Bright Spots Programme have been working with children in care and care leavers for over a decade to understand what they feel is important to have a good life. 

The two Bright Spots surveys – Your Life, Your Care (for children in care aged 4-17 years) and Your Life Beyond Care (for care leavers aged 16-25 years) were coproduced with children in care and care leavers. They help local authorities to systematically gather the views of their children and young people about the things that are important to them and to use the survey findings to influence practice, service development and strategic thinking.

Throughout this guide we have used practice examples from the Bright Spots Resource Bank. The Bright Spots Resource bank includes practice examples from local authorities who have listened to what their care experienced children and young people said was most important to them. There are also a wide range of other useful materials and learnings produced by Coram Voice over the years, such as national reports, publications and webinars.