1. Voice of the Child
DCI Gary McIntyre Greater Manchester Police Lead for Vulnerability Rochdale, Tameside, Oldham

2. What does this mean - It means seeing their experiences from their point of view.
When working with children or young people it is essential to gain a clear picture of their wishes, thoughts and feelings.
It is good practice to ask the child or young person which practitioner they would like to gather this information from them.
The right of a child or young person to be heard is included in the UN Convention of Rights the Children’s Act emphasises the importance of speaking to the child or young person as part of any assessment.
Record verbatim quotes where possible. Aim for the child to “jump off the page”.
Describe the child’s feelings and opinions.
Record the child’s physical appearance and interactions with others, and how others interact with them.
Record your feelings, thoughts and observations
Take pictures of completed drawings etc. from assessments and include these in the records – Professionals
The professional requirement to keep records should be explained
Make sure the information you gather is shared appropriately with other agencies

3. Why is it important
Child focused work means children feel listened to, plans are more successful.
This does not only refer to what children say directly, but to many other aspects of their presentation. It means seeing their experiences from their point of view.
Children are trying to tell us something
No child is too young to have a voice
Children feel listened to and heard
We can see their experiences from their point of view
When children are involved interventions are more successful when they are involved and prompt decisions are made about safeguarding when necessary

4. How do we do this
It’s a wider observation of what the child, the environment and the other people present are communicating to you.
It includes:
Non-verbal communication (remember only 7% of communication is verbal)
What is the child not saying?
How do they look?
How do they behave?
Observations of interactions between the adults and the child
What is the physical environment?
Build up a picture of the child’s life.
There are many ways to ensure records include a strong sense of what life is like for an individual child at a particular time:
talk to the child about their life, likes & dislikes, hopes & dreams, worries & fears
talking to children is dependent upon their age and level of understanding
if children are able to talk there are a variety of ways of hearing their voice through direct work techniques such as ‘signs of safety’
record what children say in ‘direct quotes’ (e.g.I feel sad/happy/worried when…) as this is more powerful than something interpreted by a practitioner
children must be seen alone as they maybe inhibited to talk openly about their experiences by the presence of their parent or carer
consider the location – children may feel less inhibited about speaking if they are in a safe neutral setting
even if children are too young to speak it is still essential that workers convey a sense of what life is like for them
this can be done in a variety of ways – describe their presentation, how others interact with them and how they respond, comment on whether you consider they are functioning at a developmentally appropriate level
children may have means of ‘speaking’ other than verbal speech such as Makaton or signs and symbols; be creative
encourage children to draw or write about themselves and their lives
use a range of ideas; start off non-specific such as ‘draw your favourite food, favourite pop star’ then be more directive such as ‘draw where you live, who lives there, draw a picture of a happy day, a sad day, what do you wish was different, who is special’ etc.
describe a child’s physical appearance, do they appear thin, pale, dark shadows under their eyes, listless, or do they appear curious, ‘smiley’, active
observe the interactions between a child and their parents or carers – is there any difference in their interactions with other people
describe the child’s interactions with professionals
what is your hypothesis about this behaviour
does the child appear relaxed, wary, or overly familiar
does the child respond as you would expect a child to respond in that situation
ensure you include the views of other significant people in the child’s life who may have contributions to make about the child’s experiences
for example, grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, neighbours and teachers
research has found that these people often had a unique insight into the lives of children yet their views were given less weight than the views of professionals
include the views of fathers; they may have useful information to share, even if there are concerns about them
use independent advocates to ascertain children’s views as sometimes they can bring valuable context to children’s experiences
encourage children to participate in plans drawn up about them – they can do this directly by attending meetings or contribute by putting something in writing or drawing a picture, or giving someone a ‘message’ from them.

5. How do we do this – Some pointers
observe the interactions between a child and their parents or carers – is there any difference in their interactions with other people
describe the child’s interactions with professionals
ensure you include the views of other significant people in the child’s life who may have contributions to make about the child’s experiences
include the views of fathers; they may have useful information to share, even if there are concerns about them
use independent advocates to ascertain children’s views as sometimes they can bring valuable context to children’s experiences

6. What children have said they need
Vigilance: to have adults notice when things are troubling them
Understanding and action: to understand what is happening, to be heard and understood, and to have that understanding acted upon
Stability: To be able to develop ongoing stable relationship of trust with those helping them
Respect: to be treated with the expectation that they are competent rather than not
Information and engagement: to be informed about and involved in procedure, decisions, concerns and plans
Explanation: to be informed of the outcome of assessments and decisions and reasons when their views have not met with positive response
Support: to be provided with support in their own right as well as a member of the family
Advocacy: to be provided with advocacy to assist them in putting forward their views

7. What happens if we miss VOC
Victoria Climbié – “Victoria was known to no less than two further housing authorities, four social services departments, two child protection teams of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), a specialist centre managed by the NSPCC, and she was admitted to two different hospitals because of suspected deliberate harm. The dreadful reality was that these services knew little or nothing more about Victoria at the end of the process than they did when she was first referred to Ealing Social Services by the Homeless Persons’ Unit in April 1999.” (Laming Report 2003)
Daniel Pelka – “Almost every child who has been the subject of a serious case review over the last 40 years was 'seen' by a professional within days (or hours) of their death. Simply seeing a child is not protection against harm. The child needs to be seen, listened to and heard. Treat parents and carers with respect and listen to their information, but always verify the information that they provide via other sources.” (Daniel Pelka Serious Case Review Report 2013)

8. Questions