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Northampton Aim Higher working with Viewpoint

Northamptonshire Aimhigher is one organisation who are actively using a purpose-built version of Viewpoint ACASI to obtain feedback from young people on the quality and impact of Aimhigher activities and to report year on year on what young people feed back. They recognised that effective consultation of young people requires new approaches which take account of communication media familiar to young people. Many children and young people may find it difficult, or may be reluctant, to share their views face-to-face or by being asked to complete paper-based questionnaires. Whereas, there is growing evidence of the benefits of using A-CASI with children and young people as part of any consultation process, in particular how they can be helped to begin sharing their views and experiences through a computer-mediated environment.

These points are expanded in the paper ‘Viewpoint for use in Aimhigher projects’ which describes how Viewpoint A-CASI has been adapted and used to enhance user evaluation of Northamptonshire Aimhigher.

Birmingham Womens Aid

Birmingham and Solihull Women’s Aid are carrying out a service quality survey for all children and young people at refuges in the city. The questions cover areas such as help and encouragement; informed; fun and enjoyment; safety; and support.

Bridgend Bullying Survey

Bridgend children and young people’s framework partnership have developed an anonymous short bullying survey to be used in primary and secondary schools in the borough. The questions cover experiences of bullying; perceptions of other bullying; schools reaction to bullying and if the pupil has been a bully themselves.

Inspecting Youth Offending Teams - young people's view about services.

This report presents the results of Year 1 of HMI Inspectorate of Probation's consultation with young people for the national inspection of Youth Offending Team services. It was introduced at a conference in Birmingham by Ben Clark from the Inspectorate. His message 'The views of children and young people should be at the centre of service delivery'. The YOT Inspection is conducted at the same time as the JAR. It focuses on strategic management and partnership arrangements, on service delivery and YOT’s engagement with children and young people is assessed. Children and young people are consulted during the inspection and Viewpoint audio CASI is used to support this consultation. The Inspectorate assess how effectively services are consulting children and young people and what difference that consultation makes to the services provided.

Report Findings Children and young people generally very positive about their experiences with YOTs.

No overt signs of inequitable treatment at YOT according to gender or ethnicity – a clear positive ¾ said that coming to the YOT had changed their life ‘for the better’.

Nearly 2/3 said that the YOT was always helpful to them.

Many YOTs had tried to introduce a process of consultation which had subsequently folded.

Greater use could be made of 'What Do You Think?' for both planning and review.

Some YOTs but not enough contributed to their authority's community consultation strategy Children and young people's views did not consistently inform strategic planning.

1/5 said they did not know the 'What Do You Think' form.

The full report on the views of young people collected during Year 1 of the Inspection process can be downloaded by clicking here.

Looked After Children 2006 - A report by Profesor Ian Butler, University of Bath

This report is an analysis of the views of Looked After young people based on their contributions to their reviews using Viewpoint audio CASI. Local authorities agreed to share data, and Professor Ian Butler, Professor of Social Work at Bath University agreed to look at the data and report.

Key Findings

On the basis of the analysis reported here, the great majority of looked after children aged 10 -14 in 11 local authorities are generally positive about their experiences of being looked after. This finding should not mask the fact that there is a significant minority of young people who do not feel both safe and settled and who report their experiences negatively. These children are more angry or frustrated and, in general, report being less content with: how often they see their social workers; how easy it is to talk to carers/key-workers or social workers; being helped to understand their care plan and being helped to make decisions.

The full report can be downloaded by clicking here.

Large Sample collected by Bexley Council

Bexley Council have recently completed a large Viewpoint survey conducted in schools throughout Bexley, Bromley and Greenwich. The survey was conerned with young peoples views on their transition from junior to secondary school, with particular interest being placed on their opinions of the PE lessons. During a two week period over 2800 young people were consulted and Viewpoint are now in the process of completing a comprehensive report which will be used by Bexley Council to influence future policy.