One of the recommendations of the recent review of the Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy was to 'refresh and amplify best-practice guidelines for engaging with children and young people'.
We’ve recently finalised a new set of best practice guidelines. They reflect what children and young people told us about how we can better support and empower them to have their voice heard. They also incorporate elements of established guidelines and links to more detailed information, including considerations when engaging with specific population groups. They were developed in collaboration with partner agencies, including representatives from: The Ministry of Youth Development, the Ministry of Education, Ministry for Pacific Peoples, Te Puni Kōkiri, Oranga Tamariki, the Office of the Children’s Commissioner, VOYCE Whakarongo Mai, I.Lead and InsideOUT rainbow youth network.
These guidelines are designed to support people in the public sector as they seek to hear and empower the views and voices of children and young people. It aims to ensure this is done in a way that works for children and young people, and that their insights and perspectives are genuinely used to influence policy development, programmes and services. It may also be a useful resource for those outside of government, who are seeking to engage with children and young people.
They can be found on the Child and Youth Wellbeing website: https://www.childyouthwellbeing.govt.nz/resources/engagement-children-and-young-people-best-practice-guidelines