Children and Young People Joint Delivery Board newsletter: March 2022

Spotlight on – Engagement and Participation – Listening to the voices of Children and Young People

Engagement and Participation

At the start of 2022, we welcomed two new Children and Young People's Engagement Officers, Emma Papakyriakou and Mariana Soto Pacheco, to support the work of the Joint Delivery Board. Emma and Mariana will be focused on listening to a diverse range of voices of children and young people to influence Task and Finish Groups priorities around service design, delivery and evaluation of mental health and wellbeing support and services.

As Engagement Officers we will follow the Principles of Participation and Engagement, previously co designed by young people and the Joint Delivery Board. This means the voices and experiences of children, young people and their families will remain central to decision making and service design. We will aim to ensure those seldom heard groups have the opportunity to share their views and experiences.

We'll act as connectors translating the engagement needs of the Task and Finish groups into key themes, while working with partner organisations to create opportunities to engage with children and young people in a supportive, meaningful way. We will work with partners to provide feedback to Task and Finish Groups to help influence decision making, support and service design and evaluation

In addition we will provide feedback to children and young people on how their participation has influenced the work of the Board.

If you wish to get in touch regarding our engagement work or you would like to get involved with the work of the Joint Delivery Board please get in touch. Contact details are on the last page.

Emma & Mariana

Scottish Youth Parliament – Mental Health Consultation Workshop – December 2021

On 14th December 2021, the Scottish Youth Parliament held an online consultation workshop to provide feedback on some of the Task and Finish groups to the Children and Young People's Mental Health and Wellbeing Joint Delivery Board. 20 newly elected Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament (MSYPs) took part. Abbie, who is one of the MSYPs represented on the Joint Delivery Board – has written this blog about her experience from the workshop.

"Mental health and wellbeing affects all young people in Scotland, and it is high on many MSYP's agendas. In December 2021, to give MSYPs the opportunity to have their views heard on mental health services, I worked with another former MSYP and the Scottish Government and COSLA's Children and Young People's Joint Delivery Board to design and deliver an online consultation workshop.

Consultation workshops are an opportunity for MSYPs to share their own and their constituent's views on a specific topic. They also facilitate article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights on the Child (UNCRC), ensuring children have the right to express their views on issues affecting them. As an MSYP I loved taking part in these workshops, as they are a fantastic way to get young people's voices heard!

The feedback gained from the workshop will be fed back to the Children and Young Peoples Mental Health and Wellbeing Joint Delivery Board. This board is chaired by the Scottish Government and COSLA and oversees all aspects of children and young people's mental health and wellbeing.

You can find out more about the work of the board here. I sit on the board alongside two other MSYPs and our role on the board is to ensure that young people's voices are at the heart of decision making, so we will make sure MSYPs views are heard!

The workshop focused on three main areas:

• Engaging young people in decisions and communications about mental health services;
• young people accessing mental health services;
• and young people giving feedback about mental health services.

MSYPs were invited to give feedback on each of these topics and share what they think needs to change to improve young people's experiences of mental health services."

You can read Abbie's blog in full here.