Author: Caoimhe-Hub

Beyond Limits – How to Run a Mixed Ability Youth Advisory Panel: Key Learnings from the Ombudsman for Children’s Office

Beyond Limits is the Ombudsman for Children’s Office (OCO) event for children and young people with disabilities and their families. It aims to show them the opportunities open to them, talk about the issues they want to talk about, and highlight inclusiveness. With Beyond Limits, we want to show how a fully inclusive event can be the rule and not the exception.

Evidence-based Approaches to Policy-making and Service Delivery for Children and Young People in Ireland

This chapter discusses current practice and opportunities to strengthen evidence-based approaches to policymaking and service delivery for children and young people in Ireland. It analyses capacity among government departments and agencies to collect, utilise and share evidence that is disaggregated by age and other identity factors and coordinate research within the framework of the Children and Young People (CYP) Indicator Set, with a focus on mapping the needs of vulnerable groups of children and young people. It also discusses the collection of evidence through involving children, young people, and civil society in policymaking, as well as the development of regulatory impact assessments to anticipate child and youth outcomes ex ante.

Report of Two Pilot Studies Exploring Approaches and Methods to Involve Babies, Toddlers, and Young Children in Participation in Decision-making

The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) and Hub na nÓg established an Early Years Working Group (EYWG) during 2021 to develop guidance for consulting with children and babies aged birth to 5 years. The EYWG was comprised of stakeholders from the policy, academic, creative, and early learning, and care sectors with expertise in the area. The remit of the EYWG was to consider existing research and resources on the participation of children and babies aged birth to 5 years in participation in decision-making and identify gaps in addition to piloting methodologies that enable the participation of young children in decision-making.