Special Report: Participation and Co-production

Since the 1990s, participation has been practiced and championed by a host of voluntary sector organisations. Only in the last decade have local authorities and policy makers begun to recognise the benefits of adopting participation approaches, particularly with the advent of service user groups such as children in care councils.

The government has also grasped the participation mantle. Young people's views have been instrumental in shaping everything from special educational needs reforms, the development of Staying Put arrangements for fostered children and how psychological therapies are offered to young people with mental health problems.

Critics have argued that too often involvement of young people in projects is tokenistic, designed to tick funders' boxes rather than listened to and acted upon in any meaningful way. While there are different levels of participation, examples of real change are now emerging. Instead of just consulted, young people are increasingly co-producing - with the support of skilled professionals - solutions to the problems they have identified.

Not only does involvement in co-production projects give hard-to-reach groups of young people new skills and opportunities, it offers the prospect of developing services and interventions that are more responsive to their needs and fit for purpose.

CYP Now's special report on participation and co-production highlights latest developments in policy and research evidence, and features the work of four projects putting participation and co-production approaches into practice.

Participation and co-production: Policy context

Research evidence:

Study 1: Service users as the key to service change? The development of an innovative intervention for excluded young people

Study 2: "Yes. They are Listening but Do They Hear Us?" Reflections on the Journey of the Barnardo's Participation Project

Study 3: Adding Evidence to the Ethics Debate: Investigating Parents' Experiences of Their Participation in Research

Study 4: Integrating a youth participation model in a youth mental health service: Challenges and lessons learned

Practice examples:

Open Talk

Just Health

Transforming Youth Services