A mission statement or charter about the involvement of children and young people in the service is in place, accessible and used to review progress.

Giving a clear outline of how children and young people will be involved in the running of the services
Easy to access and to use to ensure children and young people are being involved

We believe these core priniciples are really important for young people’s participation:

• Children and young people’s participation is a visible commitment that is properly resourced.
• Children and young people’s participation is valued.
• Children and young people have equal opportunity to participate.
• Children and young people’s participation is supported in the programme and partner organisations by effective policies and systems.

Young people told us it is important the services have a mission statement that says what the shared values are between services, staff and young people.  Here’s some of the things young people said were important:

• Putting young people first, respecting young people as individuals and respecting their needs.
• Have a range of support and therapies available for children and young people.  These need to meet the needs of children and young people, not the service.
• Support young people to achieve their potential and achieve their goals for the future.
• See us as people – not a problem with a label.