Good practice principles
The Department of Children and Youth Affairs (DCYA) and Hub na nÓg have developed a set of good practice principles on how to engage with children and young people and ensure that their voices can make a difference or have an impact on decision-making, which are outlined below.
| Good practice principles – engaging with children | |
| Involve | children in decision-making from the start |
| Seek | children’s blue sky thinking |
| Avoid | giving children information that can limit their thinking |
| Use | a strengths based approach, starting with children’s own experience and understanding |
| Use | open consultation questions or easily understood survey questions developed by children |
| Use | creative and age-appropriate methods |
| Avoid | interpreting children’s view during the process |
| Ensure | that children evaluate the process and that feedback is given to them on decisions made |
| Good practice principles – ensuring impact | |
| Ensure | that human and financial resources are in place |
| Identify and name | how children views will be used |
| Identify and name | how decisions that are taken will be fed back to children |
| Report on | the views of children and avoid adult interpretations of their views |
| Ensure | that children play a prominent role in presenting their own views at relevant events |