Listening to your voice
The Voice and Participation team work hard to make sure your voice is heard. Make a difference by getting involved.
How we work with you
Listening
We offer several formal groups, and host activities for young people to share their views and engage in interesting conversations about what’s important to them.
Our formal groups include:
- Youth Cabinet
- UK Youth Parliament
- Care Leavers Executive Group
- Care Leavers Advisory Board
- Children in Care Council (for those under the age of 16 who are in care)
Our activities bring young people together to experience new things, have fun and meet new people. See more information on our Activities and community page.
Sharing
Hearing and sharing the views of young people is crucial to ensure young people are heard and services can act upon what ideas and views they have. We listen and share views in the following ways:
- consultations
- surveys
- interviews
- training
Acting
To enable positive change, we take action based on the views and ideas of young people. We work collaboratively with the service to offer young people a number of opportunities to be active participants in change such as:
- attending decision making meetings
- children and young people’s scrutiny committees
- engaging in policy change
- involvement in service review and design
We believe by listening to young people and sharing their views and ideas, we can inform action that leads to positive change.
Listening to your ideas
Youth Cabinet and UK Youth Parliament
UK Youth Parliament provides opportunities for 11 to 18 year olds to use their elected voice to bring about social change through meaningful representation and campaigning.
Members of Youth Parliament (MYPs) are elected every two years across the UK. There are currently hundreds of Members of Youth Parliament.
Once elected Members of Youth Parliament meet with MPs and local councillors, organise events, run campaigns, make speeches, hold debates, and ensure the views of young people are listened to by decision makers.
Find out more, including how to get involved, on our Youth Cabinet and UK Youth Parliament page.
Care Leavers Executive Group
The Care Leavers Executive Group is a Facebook group exclusively for care leavers to connect with each other, access important information and discuss key topics.
You can join this group if you are a care leaver aged 16 to 25. Some of the things you can expect to be doing are:
- discussing important topics relevant to care leavers
- receiving messages from the council
- accessing opportunities
Care Leavers Advisory Board
The Care Leavers Advisory Board meets regularly to discuss ideas, share their views and give feedback to services. These forums are for young people aged 16 to 25.
The purpose of the board is to ensure the voice of care experienced young people is heard, to have a community of people who have similar experiences and to get involved in meaningful work that will ensure services are the best for young people.
Members of the Care Leavers Advisory Board have opportunities to:
- attend decision making meetings
- speak to senior leaders within the local authority
- engage in meaningful work to develop services
To find out more about the Care Leavers Executive Group or the Care Leavers Advisory Board, including how to get involved, get in touch with the Voice and Participation team.
Sharing your views
Consultations
We ask for your views through consultation requests. These requests could be asking a group of young people to come together and share their views on a certain topic or asking you to write to us and share your views.
We also have a really cool way for you to share your views online though something called ‘Engagement HQ’. We use this to understand all peoples views from across West Sussex.
Surveys
From time to time we may send out surveys to you so that we can ask you specific questions. These will usually be when we are changing a service like leaving care or mental health services.
We also send out a specific survey every couple of years called Brightspot.
The surveys are really important because it gives you the opportunity to tell us what we can do to change and any other ideas you may have. We listen and work with other organisations to address your points and improve our service for all care leavers.
Acting on your views
You can actively change things by getting directly involved.
Staff interviews
West Sussex want to have a committed community of people who care about putting Children First. We believe that you should be involved in the staff that we recruit and this is something we always ask young people to be involved in.
If you are involved in an interview, you might:
- choose interview questions
- be part of the interview process
- give feedback on application forms
Training
We make sure the people that care for you have the best training. This is to ensure that they understand everything they need to when it comes to offering you support.
Training is powerful when you are involved to share your views, tell people what you think they can do to support young people and give advice and guidance.
Attending decision making meetings
There are several meetings you can attend where important decisions are discussed and made. These meetings include:
Corporate Parenting Panel
This is a meeting where all the major decisions are made for the whole of children’s services, this includes schools, health services, youth justice and many more.
Journey To Independence Group
This is a forum where they focus and discuss all the important things about leaving care. It includes people from housing, health, finance, employment, education and more.
Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Panel
A panel that is responsible for the overview and scrutiny of children and young people’s services and the learning and skills portfolio.
Children First Board
This group aims to improve the outcomes for young people that live in West Sussex, make sure all agencies work together and listen and respond to the views of children and families.
Ready to get involved?
See the Voice and Participation team page for our contact details.