Welcome to Warwickshire County Council

Practical ways of involving children, young people and families in decision making

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I start?

First things first: you must be clear about what you want as an organisation and how you intend to involve your users or the wider community. Be open about the extent and possibility of how much influence and power those involved will have and what is achievable.

Throughout this toolkit there are sections which will help you think about the process for involving children, young people and parents/carers.


Case studies of local good practice
Local funding sources


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Why is participation so important?

Every child, young person or parent/carer is a member of society. Organisations provide services for people living in that community or society so it’s important that they are consulted and involved in the provision of services. Services need to be inclusive, relevant, cost effective, meet their users needs, improve things, and be accessible. You will be able to check all these things by involving children, young people & their families.

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What’s in it for me and my users?

There are lots and lots of benefits from involving your users and the wider community in decision making. For instance your organisation will benefit by understanding and increased awareness of your user’s needs which ultimately will mean better targeted and more effective services for children, young people, and parents/carers. Most of all, your relationship with those who use your service will most definitely improve. Those involved will benefit by having greater confidence, in feeling valued, being of some worth to friends and peers, and feeling successful.

The benefits and barriers of participation are explained in more detail in Benefits and Barriers

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Do I need consent for involving children, young people and parents/carers in decision making?

Not normally if you’re involving children, young people or parents/carers within your own organisations. Consent for their general involvement will be via their initial joining forms. The only time you would need consent for their involvement is for use of images such as photo’s or any off-site activities.

If you are involving the wider community or children, young people, parents/carers not from your organisation then consent is required. There is no general consent therefore organisations consent forms will vary. It is worth adding a paragraph around consent for images on your particular forms if not already on there.

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Is there a legal age by which children, young people or parents/carers can make decisions?

Usually no, however take into account whether you are asking those involved what they think or whether they are actually making decisions about certain things. For instance you need to think about the appropriateness of a young child making a decision about services funding/money etc. Please note that usually a person needs to be a 16yrs+ to be a signatory on a committee bank account.

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What is the easiest way of involving children, young people or parents/carers?

Start by asking them! - They will tell you how they wish to be involved. This will build up a relationship between you both, and then genuine involvement will become easier. Again you need to be clear about how much influence they will have and always feedback to them. For more information look in case studies of local good practice and What is participation for resources which may help you work out the easiest form to involve children, young people and parents.

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Can we pay for children, young people and parents’/carers involvement?

Payment is a delicate issue and we recommend that it should be avoided. We believe it is better for those involved to gain recognition via accreditation rather than a specific payment. There are many accreditations that those involved could achieve i.e., Millennium Volunteers, Youth Challenge Awards. For more information on recognition and payment please refer to Warwickshire County Council’s Recognition Policy in "Warwickshire's Quality Frameworks"

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Are there pathways for those participating to be involved in wider democratic structures?

Yes, more so for young people than for children and parents/carers. If you have a young person aged 12+ who wants to get involved in other things, locally, there are area youth forums in each district. From this young people can be elected onto the County Youth Panel. Young people can then be elected onto the MYPUK and have the opportunity to sit regionally and nationally.

For children, there are opportunities to get involved in local and regional structures for consultations and the commissioning of services. Warwickshire have recognised that building pathways for all those that get actively involved in decision making is important and are looking at a coordinated approach to ensure pathways are developed.

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How do I know I’m getting it right?

There is no right or wrong way around involving children, young people and parents/carers. Those who want to get involved will determine this. However there are general principles and frameworks locally and nationally that can help you. For instance Warwickshire have adopted and support organisations and projects to assess their work through Hear by Rights, Warwickshire Award For Involvement and the Parenting Standards. These are all specific frameworks that can help you improve the way you work with your users. More information on these frameworks can be found under "Warwickshire's Quality Frameworks"

Where can I get support and advice?

There are lots of local and national organisations out there that can assist you in supporting users to be more actively involved. In the useful links and resources page we have listed lots of organisations and resources that also may be able to help you.

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