Involving Children in Decision Making

Children, including those who communicate non-verbally, should be supported to actively participate in decisions about their lives. They should be sensitively helped to understand when it may not be possible to act on their wishes and why other action is taken that is in their best interests. Children will have access to an independent advocate and, where appropriate, an independent visitor which is detailed later in this chapter.

In Surrey we believe that all staff working with children and young people have an advocacy role to play and that it is often better to avoid unnecessarily introducing more adults into children's lives.

Our message is that: Advocacy starts with you unless you feel your 'hands are tied' or the young person wishes to make a complaint and asks for independent advocacy support to do so.

Advocacy services in Surrey are provided by Reconstruct. If you would like more information about the support they can provide, or to access an advocate, please visit Advocacy for children in care.

Children should be supported to identify a trusted adult who they can talk to about any concerns.  This will often be you as their foster carer. It is important that children are confident that adults listen to them, take their concerns seriously and take steps to act on what they say, or explain why they can’t.

As a foster carer you will be supported to seek and record the views of children in your care.  This may be by making a record of their views in informal settings, or helping them participate more formally, for example in meetings, or reviews.

The benefits of for children participating in matters that affect them include:

• Having a safe space to think about events that have brought them into care with others who may have similar experiences;
• The opportunity to communicate their version of events and experiences and to say what they would like to happen in the future;
• Being listened to encourages a sense of self-worth and a sense of personal identity, it opens up a channel of communication allowing a child to express their wishes and in turn hear from the service what is and is not possible;
• The possibility of having their concerns and issues dealt with at an early stage, which could have an immediate impact for them in terms of how they identify their 'quality of life';
• The opportunity to have explained to them what is happening in the present moment and what is likely to happen in the future and what will be done to keep them (and their siblings) safe.

For foster carers the benefits of children's participation can be:

• Building an attachment and a relationship with their team together;
• The opportunity (perhaps for the first time) to hear the child's views from their perspective and in their own words about what they think has happened and what they might want to be different;
• A supported way of sharing views that may improve their relationship with the child.

There are also some barriers to participation that are important to consider such as:

• The child or the carer may feel there is a lack of clarity about who is doing what in the child's life and too many professionals become involved;
• There may be a lack of clarity about what participation is or how this is different to other discussions about care planning;
• Competence – foster carers and professionals around the child may lack experience, skill or confidence to effectively communicate with children, including those of a particular age, from a particular culture or with specific communication needs;
• Capacity - a lack of available time from those caring and supporting a child to help them effectively participate;
• Children's behaviour that can be misinterpreted and sometimes cause a barrier for professionals and carers. The carer, along with the team around the child, will often need a variety of tools/methods and patience/space to deal with this to promote engagement;
• Children themselves can become disinterested and disengaged because of delays;
• Children are far more spontaneous, and their timescales are far shorter;

Ideally as a foster carer you will be able to build a trusting relationship which means that you are able to support a child to participate in having a say in decisions made about their lives. Often a child may ask you to advocate for them in meetings. There are also other more formal ways in which a child can be supported to share their views. These are noted below. If you feel that a child in your care would benefit from additional support and advocacy, please speak to your Supervising Social Worker and/or the child's Social Worker. You can also play an important role in helping others to recognise and address the barriers listed above.

Children should have access to, and should be actively encouraged to involve, an independent advocate. In Surrey this service is provided by Reconstruct.

Where children have difficulty in expressing their wishes or feelings about any decisions made about them, or where the child's wishes conflict with the adults supporting them around a specific decision, consideration must be given to securing the support of an Advocate.

An Advocate should also be offered where a child wishes to be represented at a meeting (for example a Looked After Review) or assisted in making a complaint.

Information must be provided to all Looked After Children about how they can gain access to a suitably skilled Independent Advocate. This may be facilitated by their Social Worker or the Independent Reviewing Officer.

Children should be supported in accessing an Advocate, for example by a referral from their social worker, carer or another professional to the Reconstruct service Particular consideration needs to be given to the needs of disabled children, very young children, children placed out of the local authority area and those with complex communication needs who need the support of an advocate.

It is the role of the local authority looking after a child to appoint a person to be an Independent Visitor when it appears to be in the child's interests to do so. If you or the child in your care would like to request an Independent Visitor, please speak to your Supervising Social Worker  The Independent Visitor service can be contacted on01372 833359 or email independentvisitors@surreycc.gov.uk

Usually Independent Visitors are volunteers. To be 'independent' they must not be connected with the local authority which looks after the child.

The role of the Independent Visitor is to be child focused and contribute to the welfare of the child. In particular they should:

• Promote the child's developmental, social, emotional, educational, religious and cultural needs;
• Encourage the child to exercise their rights and participate in decisions which will affect them;
• Support the care plan for the child;
• Complement the activities of the carers.

The Independent Visitor will visit, advise and befriend the child, with the aim of establishing a trusting and positive relationship. They way in which they do this will vary according to the needs and wishes of each individual child. Ideally, they should remain a constant in the child's life, and be there if a child moves placements or has a change of social worker. Usually they will commit to a regular pattern of visits and give a commitment for a minimum of a two-year period.

The Independent Visitor may be involved in meetings or consultation processes relating to the care of the child. The Independent Visitor may also contribute to Looked After Reviews, either in writing or in person, if they have been invited or the child requests their attendance.

In most instances it will not be necessary or appropriate for the Independent Visitor to keep detailed records of their discussions with the child.

The appointment of an Independent Visitor should be considered as part of developing the Care Plan for the child and at the Looked After Review. Any decision not to appoint an Independent Visitor should be kept under review. The child's wishes and feelings should be obtained, and they must agree to the appointment of the Independent Visitor.

The following factors should be taken into account when considering if it would be appropriate to appoint an independent visitor:

• If the child is placed at a distance from home;
• If the child is unable to go out independently or experiences difficulties in communication and building positive relationships;
• If the child is likely to engage in behaviour which puts them at risk as a result of peer pressure or forming inappropriate relationships with older people;
• If a child placed in a residential setting would benefit from a more individualised setting; and
• If it would make a contribution to promoting the child's health and education;
• Where contact with their parents or family is infrequent, or not positive for the child; 
• In other circumstances where it appears the child would benefit from having contact with an adult who is outside of the professional network.