I would like to involve children and young people in the running of our service but don't want to be tokenistic or patronising. Any suggestions?
Genuine participation is never an "add on" to a service, it must be embedded in all areas of work. It involves sharing of power and decision-making, and can take many forms - from one-to-one advocacy, through to developing children and young people's panels and working groups, to young people sitting on service management committees.
When I worked for Barnardo's in Southampton, we employed young people leaving care to our staff team as participation workers, which worked really well, and also enabled them to eventually move into further employment and education.
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