1. More than just words: towards meaningful participation
FRSA Conference:
Adelaide November 2014

2. How are children and young people seen in the context of services/ policy / research?
The way children are seen has changed remarkably over the past 20 years
Adult centred perception of childhood means children were rarely consulted and informed about issues that affected them – for their protection and because of their perceived limited capacity
New sociology of childhood – has reconceptualised childhood and its place in society
Children and young people as clients in their own right with needs and wishes that are sometimes different to their parents / families.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child recognises that children and young people have a right to participate:
Article 12 - States Parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child, the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child.
Prior to the 1980s children were constituted as incomplete, requiring socialisation to become adults. This adult centred perception of childhood frequently meant that children were objectified, written about but rarely consulted
From the 1980s the new sociology of childhood has promoted a renewed realisation of the importance of rethinking childhood and its place in society, positing that children be taken seriously and studied in their own right. The growth of children’s rights movement and the emergence of the new participation discourses have strengthened the social position of children and young people and attempted to ensure that they are participants in matters that are of direct interest to them (Hart 1997).
Recognition that childhood is a distinct and intrinsically interesting and important phase
Children rather than being adults in waiting are fully formed with a perspective of their own rather than as partially developed or incompletely formed adults
Children are now defined from this perspective as autonomous beings: rather than as member or even possessions of their family: their parents’ and family members’ interests and views are not longer assumed to be identical to their own
Children are recognised as having rights of their own, including the righto to protection from harm, and the right to voice opinions and influence decisions in matter relating to their own lives.
This major shift in the theorising of childhood has meant that children and young people are perceived as knowing agents and are encouraged to be authors of the own lives (Robinson 2005; Smart et al. 2001).
They are seen as creative, social and moral actors who have the capacity to interact and influence their social world and therefore shape their own childhoods both within and outside the family (Beck 1997; Jans 2004; Smart et al. 2001; Wyness 1996).

3. Past Practice Assumptions
“Kids should be asked about stuff that’s got to do with them…They can tell you stuff you’d never think of – ‘cos you’re not a kid” (11 yr old boy, FTWH)
Helping the parent = helping the child
Adults are best placed to determine children’s needs
Parents are the client, not children
To illustrate the importance of values we will just explore a few examples of how, as a service system we have, in the past, made many value based assumptions about our work with families and children that are now reflected in how programs and services are funded and how services work with families. Some of these assumptions are:
By helping the parent we help the child: This has really served as an excuse for workers not to bothered to work directly with children. In some cases it is a valid statement, because certainly we have enough evidence to show that if we help parents to become better parents there are flow on effects to the child. But, research also tells us that if children are not assessed in their own right, that we often miss some of their key needs. For example:
In SAAP services even when children’s needs were considered as a part of family based assessment it is usually only their physical needs that are taken into account, rather than their emotional or developmental or educational needs. Children then in their own right need a holistic and thorough assessment of need completed with them.
It is also worth noting that we rarely hear people saying ‘help the child and you help the parent’ – when in fact this is a very valid point of view and one which parents in our research projects and ICPS have bought up themselves – they want help for their kids. Any parent will tell you that when their child is upset or experiencing problems (especially those that exhibit themselves as behavioural issues) that it would really ease some of the parent’s pressure and stress if the child’s issues could be determined and addressed. Therefore, maybe it is just as valid to put money into children’s programs as it is into adult-centred programs?
And you wonder how much of this service system assumption is embedded within models that place the whole onus of responsibility for children onto parent’s shoulders alone (without recognising the ecology of their situation – their social economic status, environmental factors, supports available etc) as we know that parents are not solely responsible for their children’s development and a lot of factors come into play other than the parental support/relationship they have.
Another past practice assumption that has influenced how we support children and their families is that ‘adults are best placed to determine children’s needs’: One only needs to look into the history of the child protection system in Australia (and many of the individual children who have been involved in it) to see that this statement is clearly flawed. We also know that some parents are unable to accurately determine their children’s needs. Because of the other issues (such as substance use or mental illness) and stressors that are going on in their lives.
The quote from one of the kids from our research project’s children’s reference group sums this up quite clearly.
Even when adults are well placed to determine some of a child’s needs, they can not claim to accurately determine all of them, because you can never know or understand a child’s felt or expressed needs unless you engage directly with them.
Parents are the client, not children: Instead of seeing families as a unit comprising adults and children, in many family support services we have in the past only provided services to adults within these families. Seeing children as clients requires recognition and change in funding arrangements from governments, so that services have the time and resources to work with all members of a presenting family unit. We have seen this change slowly coming into some of the homelessness service sector, where we now recognise and count accompanied children, but services would argue that they are still not resourced to provide them with the services they need and the recent White Paper on homelessness also acknowledges this.

4. The purposes of children's participation
to uphold children's rights;
to fulfil legal responsibilities;
to improve services;
to improve decision making;
to enhance democracy;
to promote child protection;
to enhance children's skills;
to empower and enhance self-esteem (Sinclair and Franklin, 2000).

5. What do children say about participation?
Children want to be seen and heard
A lack of information is scary
Children & young people want to participate
At [one refuge], the workers would talk to the kids as well as the parents but at others they didn’t. It was good when they talked to you – treated you like a person. If they just ignored you it made you feel weird (Boy, aged 11, Finding their way home)
“You need to know what’s going on. Where you’re going to stay, how long… Or you freak out cos you don’t know what’s going on.” (They’ve gotta listen)
“Everyone else gets a say. Your worker decides where you get put and your foster carer chooses if they want to keep you. They even ask their kids. But what about us? Who cares if we wanna stay or not?” (They’ve gotta listen)

6. Children will only talk to people who are safe:
Children and young people felt that children would only approach ‘safe’ adults who they believed were friendly, who would believe their stories, and help them deal with issues in a way that was respectful of them and their families
There should be stuff for kids: people they can talk to about stuff and not worry that people are going to think bad of their parents or get them in trouble. Kids won’t tell unless they know people are safe and they’re not going to help unless they think people are going to do something to help (Young man, aged 14, Who Cares?)

7. Barriers to participation: ‘credibility’
Multiple studies – where children told adults about ‘things’ in their lives and nothing happened
I dunno, Care and Protection did nothing. Nothing that we can say … I spoke to them once and they told me they went over there for half an hour and that [Mum] seemed perfectly fine and I went ‘hmm mmm, whatever ’… They wouldn’t listen to me because I was still a kid. It was my word against hers. (Who cares?)

8. Participation occurs at different levels & times and in different ways
Community
Service system
Organisation
Program
Client
Individual
Child
Community engagement
Youth councils &
Research
Steering committees & governance
Feedback & evaluation
Staffing
Program scope & nature
Children are recognised
Children are listened to
Children are supported in expressing views
Children’s views are taken into account
Children are involved in decision making
Children share power and responsibilities for decision making
Assessments & Case plans
Participation occurs at different levels & times and in different ways
Children’s needs, wishes & hopes

9. Participation exists in day-to-day practice
"It is clear that listening to children, hearing children, and acting on what children say are three very different activities... There have always been people who have listened, sometimes there have been people who have heard, and perhaps less often, those who have acted wisely on what children have had to say"
Roberts 2000
STRATEGIES:
Write participation into job descriptions and performance contracts;
Ensure that all programs are passed by children and young people; and
Allocate time to reflect on how successful you have been implementing participation.

10. Participation occurs at every stage of program development and delivery
STRATEGIES:
Steering Committee supported by:
Focus groups
Questionnaires
“Research Teams”
Consumer feedback
Participation occurs at:
Needs Assessment
Program Development
Community Ed & Advocacy
Program Implementation
Program Evaluation
Re-assessment of Need

11. Participation opportunities are accessible
It’s like they don’t wanna know about us cos we cant read or write or cos they reckon what we’ve got to say is not as good. (Susan, 15years)
STRATEGIES:
Use a variety of mechanisms;
Use young people as gatherers and train them up;
Don’t make participation trivial;
Develop collaborations with other agencies to maximise access;
Take into account barriers (ie transport, time, respite); and
Make sure that participation is accessible to broad groups.

12. Children & young people feel comfortable participating
STRATEGIES:
Using spaces that are youth and child-friendly;
Avoid unnecessary formality;
Avoid exclusive language;
Provide background info so that they can prepare;
Recognise & acknowledge all participants
Don’t patronise or down-play experiences and insights.
It was relaxed – it was like being a second home, comfortable – like some kids’ play room, stuff for little kids, it reminded me of my little sister’s room, it was homely. (YP2)

13. Participation should adapt to children and young people’s ways of working
STRATEGIES:
Appoint a child / YP co- chair;
Recognise “experts”;
Use appropriate language;
Choose youth-friendly spaces; and
Provide background information.
More often than not organisations try to fit children and young people into a decision-making framework designed by and for adults.
(NSW Commissioner for Children and Young People)

14. Respect and reward participation
STRATEGIES:
Identify and celebrate outcomes;
Provide training;
Provide incentives;
Publicly acknowledge participation; and
Provide feedback.
They must feel that their time
and effort is valued…

15. Participation needs to lead to change
Our stories are too hard, you’ve got to laugh about it or you’re just gonna cry… But you gotta talk about it. And people’ve gotta listen… and do something about it! (They’ve gotta listen)
“They expect us to put in so much effort, its such a drain, but then they don’t do anything with it.” (They’ve gotta listen)