2006
Youth Policy Exchange is a concept that has been developed by the Regional Youth Work Unit and a steering group of representatives from the Regional Assembly and Save the Children UK and is supported in principle by Government Office for the North East.
Although there is a distinction between consultation and participation, Youth Policy Exchange is a model of consultation which when applied properly, should lead to meaningful participation for children and young people.
The Framework
Youth Policy Exchange sets out a framework which could be used in a number of settings. It is not restrictive but gives clear guidance of how children and young people can meaningfully participate.
The Youth Policy Exchange framework can be followed in seven stages:
Stage 1: Adult decision makers; organisations; service providers; policy officers to make a decision about an area of work in which they would like the participation of children and young people.
This clearly shows the commitment of the organisation from an early stage that children and young people should be involved equally in joint decision making. It’s important that key decisions have not already been made; otherwise children and young people’s participation would be less meaningful. If some decisions have already been made, be honest about what it is they are able to influence. At this stage the adults choose what area of their work they would like to involve children and young people in, eventually a culture of involvement should follow where they seek children and young people’s participation in all relevant aspects of what they do.
Stage 2: The adults should explain the area of work in jargon free, children and young person-friendly language. This should be no longer than one side of paper describing the issue, what they would like to know their views about and
no more than three questions they would like a response to. They should be clear about why their views are being sought. They should also be clear about what can be expected of them and how they will maintain a dialogue with the
children and young people.
Adult language and ways of doing things are often the reason why children and young people don’t engage in what we think are issues that are too complicated for them. The jargon we create to describe our work is often the
complication and the systems we use to make things easier can actually alienate people who do not work within the same environment, not just children and young people. Basically we make it hard for them to understand what it is we’re talking about. It requires a change in organisational culture to be able to make what you do transparent and accessible to others. It’s not easy and does require a commitment, but if you value the participation of children and young people key changes like this are crucial and rewarding. You must also make a clear commitment to children and young people from the beginning about what it is you will do, as we often ask things of them and don’t offer anything in return Please don’t commit yourself to something you can’t deliver on.
Stage 3: Once the adults are clear about what it is children and young people would be involved in, they then approach groups of children and young people or people who work with them to present their jargon free, friendly plan. From
this point onwards children and young people can choose whether to engage with the issue, how they would like to talk about the issue, where they would like to talk about it, the timeframe and outcomes they would like to see happen if they do and how they would like feedback presented to them. It is up to the adults and children and young people to decide the process and after this has been jointly agreed it should be written up so that everyone knows what to expect and the dialogue can begin. It is also at this stage where the needs of the group or individuals can be identified in order that suitable venues, activities, food etc can be provided and to meaningfully take part in a dialogue.
It is important that children and young people have joint ownership over what it is they are getting involved in and the more they understand and are involved they are more likely to engage with the issue and share responsibility
for maintaining a dialogue with you. It’s important that you listen to them and share power with them whilst also being honest about what it is they are influencing.
Stage 4: From the agreed process an appropriate consultation session should be planned. As previously mentioned a number of toolkits, websites and people are available to help this planning. The process should provide you with a
checklist to ensure you have taken into consideration all of the things that have been discussed. For example, if you have agreed to have a meeting on a weekend don’t plan it to happen on a Thursday evening even if you can’t book
the room on the weekend, before you make this decision you should always go back to the children and young people to involve them in that decision or you might end up with one person at the meeting – yourself. If you respect their
views, they will be more willing partners.
There are lots of resources already produced to help people talk to, engage with children and young people in a range of settings, from a variety of backgrounds with a diversity of needs and abilities. In each local authority area there will be at least one person whose job it is to make sure children and young people are involved in decision making and could help you. In the North East there is a network of workers called the Regional Active Participation Network (RAP) who meet with the aim to effectively support children and young people’s active participation by offering support; working across the region networking and sharing practice with anyone regardless of job title who is involving children and young people in the work that they do and work strategically; acting as a conduit for children and young people’s
participation in partnership with statutory, voluntary, national and regional agencies such as office of the Children’s Commissioner and Government Office for the North East (GONE)
Stage 5: Consultation. If you done your planning, this should be very straightforward.
The consultation or engagement stage of Youth Policy Exchange is the fun part! Talking with and listening to young people when they are actively engaged in the issue, having fun and sharing their views is ultimately what you have worked toward achieving and the long process which build up to this stage will ensure good participation and the ‘costs’ will be justified.
Stage 6: How you record the views of children and young people and how you feed back to them should have been agreed at stage three. Again this part should be pretty straightforward, use the agreement as a checklist and refer
back to stage two and ensure that you present you feedback in jargon free, children and young person friendly language.
Again this maintains a dialogue and shows the children and young people that their views have been valued and listened to before and during the consultation stage. Be clear to indicate any next steps and agree to keep them
involved, it’s important that children and young people know what has happened as a result of their involvement and again this requires a commitment to them as partners long after seeking their views. How you maintain this should again be agreed by you and the children and young people and may simply take the form of a newsletter, an email every month, a web blog, or meeting with them in person. It is important that you carry out your commitments to them.
Stage 7: The whole process requires you to produce something at each stage.
This means that you will develop a record of children and young people’s participation and methods that can be adapted and applied a number of times, and information to evaluate different stages of the process. This builds resources within your organization which are appropriate to the area of work you do. You have used the framework as guidance but have adapted it to suit your needs.
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