The involvement of children and young people at Coram Voice remains at the heart of everything we do. Article 12 of the UNCRC (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child) states that children have the right to participate in decisions that affect them, to be heard and to be taken seriously.
Participation gives young people the opportunity to participate in decisions that affect their lives and makes a real difference to both them and other young people.
“We have found Coram Voice to be responsive, professional, and young person centred and would not hesitate to recommend them as a project partner. They demonstrate a depth of knowledge and understanding of children in care, and care leavers and work flexibility to meet the evolving needs of the project”
(Dr Rachel Hiller and Prof Lisa Holmes ReThink)
Care Experienced Consultants
Coram Voice employ a group of care experienced consultants (CEC’s) who support the work of Coram Voice through:
Peer Research
- Facilitate workshops with young people to gather their views and opinions on the research topic.
- Advise researchers on the design of the research and how young people are involved.
- Develop user-friendly information guides aimed at young people for local authorities who are participating in the study
- Conduct interviews with young people to gather their views on the area of research being looked at
Youth Practitioner
- Support care leavers to communicate their views and opinions to local authority professionals and services
- Give advice to the local authority about ways they can engage with local care leavers
- Work with the Voices Improving Care team to help assess the progress made by local authorities, particularly in regards to engaging well with care leavers
- Collaborate with other Care Experienced Consultants and the Voices Improving Care team
Creatives
- Devise, plan and create vlogs, photos, films focussing on communicating key information
- Work with care experienced young people aged 13-25, to involve them in the development of digital resources
- Work collaboratively to develop and finalise creative resources
CEC’s can support local authorities, researchers and other organisations to develop co-production and participation opportunities for children and young people. Contact us to find out more.
A National Voice
“Coram Voice’s A National Voice Ambassadors designed and coordinated consultation feedback from 31 local authority children in care councils and care leaver forums for the independent review of children’s social care. The resulting analysis and report have been valuable in helping to shape the review’s thinking, and for the review team to hear what care experienced people feel needs to change”
(Independent Care Review Team)
We develop programmes through ANV that are led by care experienced children and young people. We aim to improve the care-system, promote young people’s aspirations and challenge public negative attitudes towards care-experienced young people.
ANV engages children and young people in co-production projects including:
- An Ambassador Programme for individuals selected to represent young people’s voice nationally and develop campaigns or resources to address the issues identified.
- Working with children in care councils across England to explore key issues and inform campaigns or projects around what is important to young people.
Our participation team can share knowledge and expertise in co-production and participation and is available for training, conferences and seminars.
Get in touch
To find out more about how we can work with you please email: ANV@coramvoice.org.uk
Privacy
Read our ANV Privacy Statement
Independent Review of Children’s Social Care
The Independent Review of Children’s Social Care was announced in March 2020 and has been set up by the government to make sure children and young people in and leaving care get the support they need.
This important piece of work was an opportunity to shape social care (social workers, being in care, leaving care) in England.
As part of the review, we shared what we have learned from our Bright Spots work, which includes the views of over 15,000 care experienced children and young people who have taken part in our surveys. We also supported the review through our A National Voice network, to make sure the voices of more children and young people in care and leaving care are heard.
What happened?
Our A National Voice Ambassadors (a group of 24 care experienced young people aged 16-25 from across England) developed workshops for young people to have their say on the area’s highlighted in “The Case for Change”, as well as any other key issues that young people want to talk about that have not been included in “The Case for Change”.
We sent these resources for the workshops to Children in Care Councils across England, supporting them to run sessions locally to gather children and young people’s feedback on the review.
Coram Voice Care Review Participation Menu
What did we find?
Our A National Voice Ambassadors then gathered together at a two day get together to view all the responses from across the county.
On the first day they read all the responses received and split into smaller groups to explore what was mentioned most frequently.
The group found several important themes emerging including:
- A post-code lottery
- Cliff edges
- Systems that don’t work for children and young people
- The importance of positive language
On the second day they prepared short presentations on the themes to share with members of the Independent Review Team.
A National Voice have written a report which summarises what you told us and includes their presentations.
Read the full report
A National Voice (ANV) response to The Case for Change report published by the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care.
The report shares care experienced young people’s thoughts, feelings and hopes for the future. It is collected from 309 voices from across 31 local authorities with extensive geographical coverage across England. The respondents also represented a broad range in terms of age, gender, ethnicity and Special Educational Needs status.
What children and young people want to tell the independent care review
A Big Thanks
We want to say a huge thank you to all the children and young people that have shared their thoughts, feelings and hopes for the future as well as the great staff who have supported them to participate and have their voices heard.
Independent Care Review session with ANV
A National Voice held an online event with Josh McAllister, Chair of the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care, Judith Denton, Member of the Experts by Experience Board and Jo Petty, Engagement and Participation Team to share how the review listened to children and young people.
The Independent Care Review final report was published on Monday 23rd May. ANV invited children in care councils and participation groups to join them in hearing how the voice of children and young people had influenced recommendations and ask any remaining questions to the Review Team. They also wanted to hear from children and young people what they liked about the recommendation, what they worried about and what they wondered about.
Coram Voice news about The Independent Review of Children’s Social Care
Update on our work with the Review of Children’s Social Care (England)
External information and articles about The Independent Review of Children’s Social Care
The Independent Review of Children’s Social Care (official site)