This technical brief examines how the meaningful participation of children and young people with lived experience (PWLE) in alternative care can strengthen child protection systems, improve service quality, and influence policy reform. Grounded in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children, the publication outlines the principles of ethical, safe, inclusive, and accountable participation and distinguishes meaningful engagement from tokenistic consultation. It presents international examples from Ireland, Scotland, the United Kingdom, Moldova, Kenya, Romania, Albania, and the United States, illustrating how children and care leavers contribute to individual case planning, service design, regulatory monitoring, advocacy, and national care reform. Drawing lessons from these experiences, the brief highlights practical approaches for embedding participation across individual, programmatic, and policy levels, emphasizing safeguarding, capacity building, institutional commitment, and feedback mechanisms. It concludes that sustained participation by people with lived experience leads to more responsive, rights-based, and effective child protection and alternative care systems while empowering children and young people as active partners in reform.
