Children’s Participation in Practice: Comparing the Views of Managers and Practitioners in an Early Intervention and Prevention Programme
Published on 17th March 2022
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Contributors
Author: Edel Tierney, Leonor Rodriguez, Danielle Kennan, Carmel Devaney, Bernadine Brady, John Canavan, Cormac Forkan, Anne Cassidy, Pat Malone, Caroline McGregor
Publisher: Journal of Children’s Services
Date: 2022
Geographic Coverage: Ireland
Type of Resource: Report
Sector/setting: Government
Vulnerable groups: Children, Young People
Developed with children and young people? Yes
Type of participation: Consultations With Children
Availability: Closed Access
Keywords: Participation, Children and young people, Decision Making, Best Practices, Policy
Introduction
Participation is the active involvement of children and young people in decision-making regarding issues that affect their lives. It is crucial in the context of child protection and welfare systems and how they respond to the needs of children and young people. The purpose of this paper is to report on the evaluation of child and family participation in an early intervention and prevention programme implemented by the Irish Child and Family Agency. It provides an analysis of a comprehensive, “whole organization” approach to understand how participation is embedded in policy and practice.
Overall, managers and practitioners had a positive attitude towards participation and identified examples of best practices. Facilitators included training, access to resources and the quality of relationships. Challenges for meaningful participation remain, such as the need to engage, hard to reach populations. Differences were identified regarding how embedded and sustainable participation was.