Child Participation

Children have the right to participate in matters affecting their lives and should be enabled to give their opinions, and to have those opinions taken into account. Through participation, children learn self-expression, empowerment and ultimately greater self-esteem. Children are a diverse group and therefore children of different ages, abilities, backgrounds, races, and both genders should ideally be included in a consultation process.

The views or wishes of children should never be assumed or overlooked, and such a process will ultimately help to formulate interventions which are more responsive. Whether investigating abuse, assessing a child’s needs, undertaking permanency planning, or evaluating standards of care, children’s opinions must form an integral part of the decision making process. The appointment of an independent guardian is a safeguard to ensure that the child has a voice and that his or her rights are protected.

The process of encouraging participation requires skill in communicating with children. Children should not be told what to say, intimidated, or judged. An environment of safety and respect is necessary to help the child feel comfortable to express her opinions, and therefore care should be taken regarding who else is present, the physical environment, and the way information is sought.

Children should be given a choice regarding participation, and where possible, parents and caretakers should be fully aware of the consultation process. Confidentiality of information is paramount and children should not be put in danger as a result of expressing their views. It is the responsibility of all professionals involved in the care of children to ensure that the process of participation is safe and that children will have support available where follow-up is necessary.

This section includes guidance on the process for consulting children, and example participation projects.

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Contextual Adaptation of Family Group Conferencing Model: Early Evidence from Guatemala

Jini L. Roby, Joan Pennell, Karen Rotabi, Kelley McCreery Bunkers, and Sully de Ucles, British Journal of Social Work (2014) 1–17, 17 Jun 2014

This article discusses the challenges in protecting Guatemalan children and their families from involuntary separation and presents the process, results and implications of a pilot training in which Guatemalan participants from government and civil society explored the efficacy and feasibility of the FGC model in their country.

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Girl Safety Toolkit

Girl Hub, 21 May 2014

This tooklit provides a comprehensive guide to designing safe programmes specifically for adolescent girls.

Family Group Conferencing and Kinship Care: Australasian perspectives

Professor Marie Connolly of the University of Melbourne, 01 Apr 2014

This webinar presentation by Professor Marie Connolly of the University of Melbourne introduces the history and background of Family Group Conference (FGC) in New Zealand and Australia and discusses the influence of FGC on the development of formal or statutory kinship care in the region.

Understanding Care Leavers in Russia: Young People's Experiences of Institutionalisation

Evgenia Stepanova & Simon Hackett , 13 Mar 2014

This paper presents the findings of a survey of Russian care leavers. The emphasis is on care leavers' experiences of the Russian institutional care system, and the issues that impacted on their postcare transition to adulthood.

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Children's Reintegration: Longitudinal study of children's reintegration in Moldova

Dr Helen Baños Smith, 28 Feb 2014

This important report documents a 22-month longitudinal study of the reintegration of children in residential care in Moldova.

War Child Holland: Syria Child Rights Situation Analysis January 2014

War Child Holland, 2014

Through participatory information gathering tools, War Child Holland implemented a Child Right Situation Analysis to discuss and analyze the issues identified by Syrian children as the most important to them.

The Best Interests of the Child in Intercountry Adoption

Nigel Cantwell, UNICEF, 2014

This study, conducted by Nigel Cantwell and UNICEF, seeks to answer the question: “what is it that enables a policy, process, decision or practice to be qualified as either respectful or in violation of the best interests of the child in intercountry adoption?”

Participation of Vulnerable Populations in Their Own Programmes: The Cash Transfers in Kenya

National Gender and Equality Commission, 2014

This report presents the findings of an audit of the cash transfer programs for the Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC), Persons with Severe Disability (PWSD), and the Elderly in 21 sub-counties of Kenya, to provide the national and county governments with a snap shot account of the implementation of the cash transfer program and the level of participation of the vulnerable populations in programs designed for them.

After Yolanda: What Children Think, Need and Recommend

Leah Finnegan , 19 Dec 2013

On 14th December, Save the Children, Plan, World Vision, working with UNICEF, organized consultations with 124 children and young people in Capiz, Cebu, Iloilo, Leyte and East and West Samar to listen to their views about the humanitarian situation six weeks after the Typhoon, find out what their priorities are and ask for suggestions to improve the response.

Leaving Care with “Cultural Baggage”: The Development of an Identity within a Transnational Space

Åsa Söderqvist, Australian Social Work Vol 67, Issue 1, 16 Dec 2013

The aim of this article is to examine unaccompanied minors’ experiences of leaving care in Sweden, and to explore the experience in relation to perceptions about ethnicity and culture within a transnational space.

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