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3. WHAT MAKES FOR EFFECTIVE ENGAGEMENT?
"...the things that they (young people) are talking about aren't just young people's issues but they are the issues that young people have concerns about for the whole city."
Councillor Rev Ewan Aitken, The City of Edinburgh Council Levels of engagement with young people, as with any community group, can range from simply providing relevant information and consulting on particular issues through involvement to full partnership approaches where those involved are empowered to have responsibility for funding decisions, monitoring and evaluation. An assessment should be made in advance of engagement to determine which approach is most appropriate to the context, the group involved, the decision to be made and the resources available. There is a vast amount of activity already under way and the examples at Annex B aim to highlight just a few of the varied approaches already being used in Scotland. "Your Place or Mine?", a research study exploring young people's participation in Community Planning, offers a discussion of models of participation and an overview of literature on citizenship as well as information on current practice in Scotland and two detailed case studies - see Annex C for details.
Thought needs to be given to the role individual partners in undertaking engagement on behalf of the Partnership and to how the information will be used to inform plans. In East Renfrewshire (Example 11), it is recognised that the engagement of young people is not only the responsibility of Education Departments or Youth Services but of all partners. Active support and contributions were made by Social Workers, Health Promotion Officers, School Nurses, Youth workers, Teachers and Community School Staff to developing a Dialogue Youth Health Network.
Community Learning and Development ( CLD) Partnerships, which have responsibilities for both youth work and building community capacity, involving a range of agencies from across sectors, can be a valuable resource for CPPs in co-ordinating and developing support for young people to engage and participate. Each CPP has overall responsibility for the CLD Strategy in its area, which is co-ordinated by the local authority through a CLD Lead Officer. Some areas also have a Youth Strategy which can support engagement by young people.
"Children and Young People are the future. Community Planning is an evolutionary process that is just beginning but has long term implications. It is vitally important therefore that we involve children and young people at the earliest opportunity in order to ensure that they have a chance to shape our direction of travel."
David S Sawers Chief Executive, Angus Council3.1 Commitment
The clear message from those working with children and young people is that effective engagement requires significant planning, time, effort and sustained support, even more so in the case of harder to reach groups such as those with disabilities or additional support needs. This implies a significant commitment on the part of the Partnership.
"Young people need different things from adults and not many adults know what kids need."
Young person, What Community Planning is to young people/Young Scot3.1.1. Sustainable Structures and Strategic Commitment - Several partnerships have sustainable structures for ongoing involvement rather than engaging around particular issues or projects, for example the Angus Young Citizens Panel (Example 1) or through Dialogue Youth Units such as in Argyll and Bute (Example 6). In some cases these structures allow for real sharing of power in decision-making. Youngedinburgh (Example 3) allows young people to take real decisions on policy and budget allocations on an equal footing with Councillors and others on a standing Committee of the Council. Young people involved in the YouthBank (Example 9) have become empowered decision makers effecting change and bringing resources to their local communities.
ACPOS has shown a commitment to engaging children and young people through its Youth Strategy. By recognising the important contribution that young people make to communities, identifying good practice and involving young people in the planning and development process of services directly affecting them, ACPOS hopes to meet the needs and expectations of the communities they serve. The Strategy sets out a series of overarching principles which will be applied to their engagement with young people, including:
"The Scottish Police Service will, through the process of Community Planning, work with partner agencies, private sector and voluntary organisations and young people to deliver a service to their community, compatible with the needs of all."
"Involving children and young people in the community planning process is essential if you want to plan services that truly reflect their needs. In doing so it is essential that planners recognize the importance of allocating adequate resources and time to make this happen, in particular resources needed to be targeted at those that traditionally have not had adequate means to have their voices heard."
Kathleen Marshall - Commissioner for Children and Young People in Scotland3.1.2. Resources - Time, effort and commitment of resources are required to achieve worthwhile engagement.However, there is evidence that engagement results in real benefits in terms of improved services and personal development for both the adults and children and young people involved. Not involving children and young people at the appropriate time can result in wasted resources.
3.1.3. Policy Proofing - It may be helpful to use an assessment tool to check that relevant groups have been taken in to account in the policy making process. As part of Patient Focus and Public Involvement, Scottish Executive Health Department and NHS Scotland use The Equality and Diversity Impact Assessment toolkit ( EQIA) ( www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/health/eqdiat-00.asp) as a strategic document to help support consideration of equality and diversity issues in the design, development and delivery of new and re-designed policies and services across NHS Scotland.
3.1.4. Culture change - While we tend to think in terms of educating children and young people in the skills required to participate, in many cases it is the adults involved who need to acquire skills to engage more constructively. The move towards involving and empowering children and young people as part of mainstream work involves a significant cultural shift for many organisations, embedding new values and ways of working. In Highland (Example 2), experience of engaging with children and young people, including on the Integrated Children's Services Plan, has led key agencies to seek out youth involvement pro-actively through the supported youth participation mechanisms. This shift represents a significant opportunity for innovation, but consideration needs to be given to how this will be supported and sustained, both at a strategic level, in developing infrastructure and building organisational capacity, and with frontline staff in training and development programmes.
3.2 Tailoring your approach
Treating children and young people as a homogenous group won't work; within this broad group there are further groups who will have additional needs to be taken in to account, for example those with disabilities or black and ethnic minorities.
"Young people know what they want. We are the best people to represent ourselves."
Robert, Young Person, 20053.2.1. Involving Children
Particular consideration needs to be given to how best to engage with younger children. It may not be appropriate to use the same consultation methods for younger children as those used for older children and young people. However younger children are able to express views and comments, and can provide useful insights to those who plan, commission and deliver services that affect them. As users of services, it is clearly important for their views to be taken into account. There are a number of sources of advice on how to consult and engage with young children, for example www.earlychildhood.org.uk. Depending on circumstances and the issues being considered, bodies need to plan how best to listen to the views of young children.
3.2.2 Start from the child's or young person's perspective - It is important to be sensitive to particular interests and needs, including those of children and young people who are excluded or discriminated against in a range of ways, and to the interests and needs of different age-groups. The key is to start from the position of the children or young people involved, from their view of the world, whatever their age or ability. Methods can then be designed so that the engagement is geared towards the interests, understanding and experience of those involved. Examples of tailored approaches are in developing the Sauchie Green Map (Example 8), the Snakes and Ladders game developed by Barnardo's (Example 10) and the use of drama in developing the Anti-Social Behaviour Strategy for Dundee (Example 7).
"It is up to the public authorities to bridge the gap between young people's eagerness to express their opinions and the methods and structures which society offers."
A New Impetus for European Youth, European Commission White Paper 20013.2.3. Supporting Personal Development - The results of the engagement are vital; children and young people need to see changes as a result of their input. However, the experience of being involved is also important, supporting the personal development, enjoyment and the sense of wellbeing of the individuals involved. North Ayrshire's consultation with a group of young people with disabilities and their parents (Example 4) about current issues facing them in the transition to adulthood had the effect of empowering the young people, giving them the confidence to challenge ideas, identify what they wanted to do and what would help them achieve their aims.
Youth work is an education process which supports young people in realising their potential and addressing life's challenges critically and creatively. Youth work approaches can enable young people who might otherwise be alienated from support to get services they need. Links may be made with voluntary sector bodies engaged in youth work or a youth work approach may be taken by the Partnership/organisations itself.
In supporting personal development in engagement, links may also be made with work under Determined to Succeed http://www.determinedtosucceed.co.uk/ and to the Curriculum for Excellence. http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/education/cerv-00.asp.
3.2.4. Managing Expectations - Children and young people may be less familiar with timescales and any limitations on an organisation's ability to respond to their views. It is good practice to be clear about the potential for change in any engagement, and it may be necessary to manage the expectations of children and young people more carefully. As identified by Highland (Example 2), young people's agendas often relate to issues such as the need for more facilities, cheaper access to facilities and better transport. In many cases, these cannot be 'fixed' in the short term - young people may have grown up before experiencing tangible benefits.
3.2.5. Make connections with personal interests - There are both positive and negative drivers to participation, and it is important to ensure that a range of methods is available to children and young people to make sure that their views can be fed into policy development. Like everyone else, children and young people have an interest in issues which have a direct impact on them. Engaging on an issue of general interest, for example in relation to new or improved leisure facilities can be a way of establishing a contact that can be built on, as in South Lanarkshire Youth Partnership (Example 5) where bussing children and young people to a skate park resulted in representation on a transport forum.
"To create a responsive service and strike the correct balance between the diverse groups within communities we serve, requires that we listen to all concerns. It is therefore vitally important that we engage with young people to understand their concerns and address them appropriately."
David Strang, Chief Constable, Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary, President, ACPOS3.2.6. Avoid tokenism - Children and young people can identify tokenistic participation in the same way as other community groups can. Where engagement is driven by a need to be seen to be consulting rather than genuine commitment to making changes, it is likely to have a detrimental effect.
3.3 A safe environment
Children and young people are especially vulnerable to exploitation, abuse and other harmful outcomes, so safeguards are often required in making sure that they are properly protected.
3.3.1. Child protection - It is essential to ensure that all staff engaged in working with children and young people are suitably experienced and/or qualified as appropriate and have not been disqualified from working with children under the Protection of Children (Scotland) Act 2003.
An enhanced disclosure check by Disclosure Scotland will confirm whether someone has been disqualified, in which case an organisation would be committing an offence if they employed them in a child care position. Guidance on the Act can be found on the Scottish Executive website at www.scotland.gov.uk/childprotection. Having a disclosure check does not preclude the need for organisations to have robust recruitment practices and sound child protection polices and procedures.
3.3.2. Ethical Standards - High ethical standards must be maintained in order to protect and respect children and young people in gathering information to develop and evaluate responses to their needs. It is important that there is a clear process with the child/young person, and in many instances their parents, to ensure that they have understood what is involved and have given their consent to be involved or for information to be shared. However, the welfare of children is paramount, and information should be shared where there are child protection concerns.
3.4 National Standards for Community Engagement
Communities Scotland's National Standards for Community Engagement identify ten key standards for engaging with all communities, including young people. The definition of engagement, in formal settings, is:
"developing and sustaining a working relationship between one or more public body and one or more community group to help them both to understand and act on the needs or issues that the community experiences."
While there are particular considerations in working with children and young people, the underlying principles for engagement are the same for all communities. The Standards are relevant to engagement in both formal and less formal settings and as part of day-to-day work which is particularly relevant in working with children and young people. The Standards have been endorsed by Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, The Chief Fire Officers Association, ACPOS, the Scottish Health Council, SCVO, BEMIS, The Poverty Alliance, COSLA, and the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations. Annex A lists some particular points, covering a mixture of strategic and practical issues, to bear in mind in planning or working with children and young people, set out under the headings of the Standards. The Standards are stretching, and organisations will need to work towards achieving them over a period of time. Findings from pilots of the Standards suggest that it may be appropriate to select and focus on a few Standards which require particular attention rather than trying to achieve them all at the same time.
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