Today we launch our new Children’s Rights and Inclusion Strategy which is focused on ensuring children and young people feel able to speak openly and honestly in hearings, that their views are given real weight in the decision making process and that they feel empowered and have ownership of their rights.

The strategy, which has been out for consultation since July 2020, has been developed in collaboration with young people with lived experience of the children’s hearings system, representatives the from Children’s Hearings Scotland (CHS) community – both staff and volunteers - and experts in participation and engagement.

It is founded on six pillars of inclusion, which focus on views, choice, relationships, communication, action and space, and allow us to address many of the recommendations made by, and our strive towards keeping The Promise.

To enable our organisation to drive forward change in the children’s hearings system, we are delighted to announce the appointment of Laura Beveridge to the newly created role of Children’s Rights and Inclusion Coordinator.

Laura has worked with children, young people and their families for 17 years. Having lived, worked and campaigned for change in the care system, Laura was appointed as Co-Chair of the Stop Go and Siblings group at the Independent Care Review. She is passionate about children’s rights and is a Trustee of the Children’s Parliament and studies Law at Edinburgh Napier University.

Laura said: “The Children’s Rights and Inclusion Strategy is something very close to my heart, and this is a unique and exciting opportunity to work in partnership with infants, children, young people and families to implement meaningful, lasting change.”

Laura will support Children’s Hearings Scotland in delivering its ambitious strategy. She will play a crucial role in embedding a children’s rights and inclusion-based approach across the organisation that is routed in a quality improvement framework which will gather evidence and measure our progress in supporting better decision-making and outcomes for infants, children and young people attending hearings.

Children’s Hearings Scotland National Convener, Elliot Jackson adds: “This is an ambitious and progressive strategy for the children’s hearings system and we will work with our partners to effect change.

“I’m absolutely committed to delivering The Promise, and as we look to the future, the views, experiences and opinions of those with personal lived experience of the hearings system will inform absolutely everything we do.”

You can read the full strategy here.

With the launch of our Children’s Rights and Inclusion Strategy we continue to place voice at the heart of everything we do at CHS. We need the expertise of people with lived experience of the hearings system on a whole range of exciting projects. If you have personal experience of children’s hearings, and would like to be involved in any of our projects or just find out more, please get in touch at Laura.Beveridge@chs.gsi.gov.uk. We would love to hear from you!