Care-experienced children in Reading share their views to break down barriers

• Name Care2Listen
• Provider Brighter Futures for Children, Reading

Engaging young people and putting their views at the heart of its work was a key factor in Reading’s children in care council (CIC), run by Brighter Futures for Children, the trust that runs children’s services in the borough, winning the participation category at the recent A National Voice Awards.

Reading’s CIC was first introduced in 2007 in line with government policy, but the drive for youth engagement was a more recent development: in 2019, the Care2Listen group was established to represent 12- to 17-year-olds as well as a group representing care leavers and Care2HaveFun representing looked-after children aged five to 12.

Since its creation, Care2Listen has engaged young people to join the CIC, with nine young people now on the board, a number that Brighter Futures for Children’s participation officer, Emma Cheek, calls a “massive improvement” compared with previous years.

Care-experienced children in the Care2Listen group meet in Reading once a month for two hours, or join virtually, to share their views on how to improve the care system – something that has led to changes in the organisation.

“There are always opportunities where we give our young people a voice, but it’s that feedback loop after they do so that is vital,” explains Cheek. “One of the main things we hear from the group is they want to feel heard. So, as part of looking at the pledge and hearing their experiences, we trained frontline staff and got them involved in the training.

“All the young people spoke candidly about their experiences and what they want to see from social workers. One even stood up and said: ‘Don’t give up on us. We might push you away, but just keep trying’. Another also read a poem they wrote. They now do the same on the corporate parenting panels too, which is fantastic, and helps to build their confidence.”

As well as giving the young people a voice and the opportunity to make friends with children in similar situations, Cheek says that the influence that youth participation can have on corporate strategy makes it worthwhile.

“It starts at the top,” explains Cheek. “Our executive directors are so engaged in wanting youth voice across the service, whether it is children sharing their care experience, the virtual school or the fostering team.

“We also look widely at trends and take into account individual needs put forward by the young people to create strategies. For example, we have one person who has always been interested in mental health campaigning, which has led to us developing a relationship with CAMHS (child and adolescent mental health services). We’re trying to break down the barriers they may see with it.”

Participation does not stop when children leave care. “Many started when they were younger and became invested – they still come along and want to be involved,” she says. “These young people bring many creative ideas, with many mentoring younger ones just starting out in Care2Listen.”

Plans put forward by young people include a podcast, life skills sessions, and encouraging more participation from young people through spreading the word further.

My View: Care2Listen participant

Care2Listen is a really fun group where we get to meet new people and try new activities. We have got much more comfortable and confident in sharing what we think and feel and have helped workers in [understanding] how they could help others like us.

We have made lots of friends and we all like to go out together. Everyone is really nice at Care2Listen and all the staff have been so sweet. It has been good being able to talk to others who understand how we feel and actually listen.

We are excited to do more activities and have fun.