Good Practice Supporting the Voice of the Child

All our work with children and families needs to be focused around being child centred. We need to ensure that the child’s voice and lived experiences is front and centre in all our assessments and informs our plans.

Children need to have their views heard, to have stable and supportive relationships with practitioners built on trust and to have practitioners that understand their behaviours and lived experience. This should guide the behaviour of practitioners. 

Anyone working with children should see and speak to the child; listen to what they say; observe their behaviour; take their views seriously; and work with them and their families and the people who know them well when deciding how to support their needs.

Legal duties under the Equality Act 2010 must be complied with, including putting special provision in place to support dialogue with children who may not be able to convey their wishes and feelings as they may want to. This might include, for example, those who have communication difficulties, unaccompanied children, refugees, those children who are victims of modern slavery and/or trafficking and those who do not speak English or for whom English is not their first language.

• The Children Act 1989 (as amended by Section 53 of the Children Act 2004). This Act requires local authorities to give due regard to a child's wishes when determining what services to provide under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989, and before making decisions about action to be taken to protect individual children under Section 47 of the Children Act 1989. These duties complement requirements relating to the wishes and feelings of children who are, or may be, in care (Section 22 (4) Children Act 1989), including those who are provided with accommodation under Section 20 of the Children Act 1989 and children taken into police protection (Section 46(3) (d) of that Act);
• The Equality Act 2010 which puts a responsibility on public authorities to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination and promote equality of opportunity. This applies to the process of identification of need and risk faced by the individual child and the process of assessment. No child or group of children must be treated any less favourably than others in being able to access effective services which meet their particular needs. To comply with the Equality Act 2010, safeguarding partners must assess and where appropriate put in place measures ahead of time to support all children and families to access services, overcoming any barriers they may face due to a particular protected characteristic; 
• The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). This is an international agreement that protects the rights of children and provides a child-centred framework for the development of services to children. The UK Government ratified the UNCRC in 1991 and, by doing so, recognises children's rights to expression and receiving information;
• The Domestic Abuse Act 2021, section 38 recognises that a child is a victim of domestic abuse in their own right if they see, hear or experience the effects of domestic abuse and are related to either victim or perpetrator of the abuse, or either the victim or perpetrator of the abuse has parental responsibility for that child;
• The Children’s Social Care National Framework is statutory guidance that sets out the purpose of children’s social care as existing to support children and families, to protect children by intervening decisively when they are at risk of harm and to provide care for those who need it, so they grow up and thrive with safety, stability, and love.
• Human Rights Act 1998;
• Children and Families Act 2004 (Children with SEND).

See Working Together to Safeguarding Children.

Children have said that they need:

• Vigilance: To have adults who notice when things are worrying them;
• Understanding and action: To understand what is happening; to be heard and understood; and to respond to what is happening;
• Stability: To be able to develop trusting relationships with the people that help them;
• Respect: To be treated with respect, acknowledge their worries and strengths;
• Information and engagement: To be informed about and involved in assessments, decision making and plans;
• Explanation: To be informed of the outcome of assessments and decisions in a way that they can understand;
• Support: To be provided with support for themselves and their family;
• Advocacy: To be provided with advocacy to assist them in putting forward their views;
• Protection: To be protected against all forms of abuse, exploitation, and discrimination, and the right to special protection and help if a refugee.

All practitioners should:

• Listen to the child's wishes and feelings - about their situation now as well as plans and hopes for the future;
• Provide children with honest and accurate information about the current situation, as seen by practitioners, and future possible actions and interventions;
• Involve the child in key decision-making processes;
• Talk to the child about next steps which will help them to stay safe;
• Talk to children about their views and helping them to take part in service improvement activity;
• Ensure that children have access to independent advice and support (for example, through advocates) to be able to express their views and influence decision-making;
• Consider with them, issues arising in relation to identity, diversity, culture, faith, sexual orientation, language, disability, low confidence and trust.

Talking with Children and Young People:

Practitioners should be aware that children may find it difficult to always speak about what they need, what is happening to them or what has happened to them.

Children need to feel supported to share information about practitioners in a way that they feel honoured. They need to feel safe. Children may need time and more than one opportunity in order to develop sufficient trust to communicate any concerns they may have. Children who have speech and language and communication difficulties, learning disabilities, language barriers, are very young or are experiencing mental health problems may require additional time or support to be able to facilitate these conversations.

Practitioners should:

• Speak with the child/ren (age appropriate) on their own;
• Explain to parents and carers in advance and seek consent where necessary;
• Talk to the child about when we may need to share information about their worries;
• Explain to the child who you are and what your voice is;
• Speak to all practitioners working with the child to ensure the child is not asked to repeat their information unnecessarily;
• Avoid professional jargon and be clear about facts and opinion;
• Allow time for the child to ask questions;
• Be clear about next steps.

There are some guides and leaflets to give to parents and young people to assist with explanations and participation. It can be helpful to provide written material to take away and consider and then offer another opportunity to talk again later.

Recording Information:

Children should be told about how we keep records and be supported to make own comments too. This should be embedded in practice and in records and they should be updated regularly, particularly when circumstances change for the child or there is a change of plan.

All records should be clear, separating fact and opinion so that when a child becomes an adult and requests access to their records they should be able to understand how decisions were made about the services provided to them and they should be able to see any recording of their own contributions in whatever format. (Subject to each agency's retentions policy).

The voice [1] and lived experiences should be recorded within documents and exemplars in the electronic records. They can also be attached or scanned into records where the child has written their own views or tools have been used which are handwritten or completed by the child.

_{[1] The voice of the child may be captured through observations.}

Durham SCP Website - NYAS Leaflet Advocacy for young people

Durham SCP Website - Child Protection Conference Information Pack

Durham SCP Website - Young People's Annual Report

Durham SCP Website - Toolkits and guidance for practitioners

Me First - Toolkit for Professionals