How?
'Getting it right' in involving children and young people is not just about listening, it is about having a dialogue with children and young people which leads to change. The Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) framework of assess-plan-do-review using the Well-being Indicators is a useful framework for involving children and young people in decisions which affect them in three levels of planning.
Tools:
Personal planning - involving a child or young people in the assessment, planning and reviewing of his/her 'Child's Plan'
Service evaluation - involving children and young people who are service users in the evaluation of the service
Policy making - involving children and young people in the development of policy
Self-Evaluation: "Where?" are you in terms of participation?.
The essential tool for all levels of involvement is to really want to hear what each child/young person is saying, recognising their expertise on their own experience; only they know the strengths and pressures, hopes and dreams in their lives.
Without that voice there will always be a vital piece of the jigsaw missing from the assessment, the plan or the review/evaluation.
Which issues are we consulting on just now?
If a person is smoking beside you and pressing you into smoking you have got a very tough decision to make because it might be your closest friend.”
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