Supporting the voices of youth in care: How the "listen to me project" is changing practice in one child welfare agency

There is currently a paucity of literature regarding the voices of children and youth in the child welfare system in Canada. Despite the finding that the UN Convention of Rights Article 12-supports youth having a say in... [ view full abstract ]

There is currently a paucity of literature regarding the voices of children and youth in the child welfare system in Canada. Despite the finding that the UN Convention of Rights Article 12-supports youth having a say in matters related to them, recent national and internal research suggests that youth in care often feel like their voices are not heard and that they are not active participants in their own lives . This poster will aim to discuss how the rights to voice and participation often play out in the child welfare system. We will also report on an innovative project called "Listen to Me", which was lead by youth to engage other youth about their experiences in care and what they want workers to know. Methodology will be discussed around how youth were sampled to share their voices. Results from the conversations with youth revealed some key themes that emerged which provide a picture of the lived experience of youth in care. The outcomes of the project (training videos) are currently being used to train all workers within our agency, and used for training BSW students. It is our hope that by sharing our results other agencies will find ways to use creative methodologies to engage the voices of youth and enable them to be active participants in decisions concerning their lives.