A national children’s charity partnered with local authority representatives and care-experienced young people to develop new resources designed to transform how authorities engage with those under their supervision.
Research consistently indicates that young people in care and those who have left care place significant value on feeling genuinely heard rather than simply acknowledged.
The new materials address a documented gap between listening and meaningfully incorporating young people’s perspectives into decisions affecting their lives.
The programme equips social workers, personal advisors, operational managers, and broader children’s services staff with practical guidance for embedding wellbeing-related enquiries throughout their interactions with service users.
The two-year development process saw the participating local authorities working directly with children and young people to determine both the substance and style of questions posed during reviews, pathway planning sessions, routine visits, and informal discussions.
This approach draws upon Coram Voice’s established Bright Spots programme, which has collected feedback from thousands of looked-after children and care leavers nationwide.
Beyond consultation, each authority has incorporated the agreed questions into their digital case management infrastructure.
This integration enables individual responses to inform personalised care planning while simultaneously generating aggregated data that reveals broader patterns in how care-experienced young people perceive their circumstances and emotional state.
The resource package comprises a short film demonstrating the significance of such dialogue and prompting practitioners to examine how children’s input influences their professional approach, alongside a concise briefing document outlining the specific questions each authority elected to employ, developed jointly with their local youth populations.
A Coram Voice representative emphasised that young people possess irreplaceable expertise regarding their own circumstances.
According to the representative, while practitioners contribute professional knowledge and professional experience, service users offer unique insight into their aspirations, relationships, and personal goals.
The incorporation and acted-upon knowledge of what young people identify as significant should form a fundamental component of care provision rather than a supplementary consideration.
An elected member overseeing children and family services at Coventry City Council noted that the city, designated as child-friendly, recognises that amplification of young people’s voices requires more than mere provision of platforms.
Authentic hearing must accompany expression, the member stated.
The council expressed satisfaction at contributing to an initiative that will enhance support for looked-after children and inform service design aimed at securing positive foundations for young people.
A senior director responsible for children and education services at the same authority highlighted longstanding organisational commitment to engaging looked-after young people in governance processes and leveraging their direct knowledge and lived experience to shape service delivery.
This commitment received external recognition through a recent inspection outcome that rated the authority’s children’s services provision as outstanding.
A participant involved in the initiative’s development articulated that practitioners should engage young people in discussions concerning genuinely meaningful topics.
Many subjects can feel immediate or uncomfortable, particularly matters relating to family circumstances or living arrangements, the participant observed.
Genuine engagement transcends procedural compliance and superficial discussion of predetermined topics, requiring instead dialogue centred on factors that genuinely improve young people’s daily existence.
Coram Voice intends to disseminate supplementary materials, reflective prompts, and examples of effective practice through social media channels in the weeks ahead.