1. Anglicare Australia conference 2017
Co-design with young people
Presented by
Sinead Quinn and Aisha

3. If you take 100 young people who have left care:

5. Hart’s Ladder of Participation

6. How Did the eastern Melbourne region become an advocate for youth voice?

7. Outer East Child and Youth Area Partnerships
The Outer East Child and Youth Area Partnership is a collaborative model of governance to help drive improved outcomes. It is made up of senior representatives from State, Commonwealth and local governments, the community sector and the broader community, who are most able to make a difference for vulnerable children, young people and their families.

8. Anglicare Victoria’s role in the OECYAP
Anglicare Victoria played a key role in participating in the OECYAP, as well as driving the creation of an Out of Home Care Youth Advisory Group. The Youth Advisory Group was set up in an attempt to help the service system respond to the poor outcomes and statistics that were being reported in regards to young people leaving care.

9. Youth Advisory Group What is it?
The Youth Advisory Group is a pool of volunteer young people who have an Out of Home Care experience and provide feedback on their experiences. All of the young people in the group are aged between 18 – 23 years and participate in activities with different agencies in the Eastern region to offer advice, provide feedback and make suggestions about what we can do differently.

10. Young person’s experience
What it means for a young person to be part of the Youth Advisory Group:
Gives a voice to people who previously didn’t feel heard
Sense of accomplishment in being able to speak on behalf of young people who don’t have the confidence to advocate for themselves
Get to contribute to changing the system’s response to young people and witness the commitment of services to improving outcomes for young people
It’s empowering and rewarding
It can be therapeutic and healing

11. What does the group look like?
Youth Advisory Group
What does the group look like?
Pool of 6-8 young people
Aged between years
Lived experience of Kinship, Home Based Care, Lead Tenant and Residential Care
Have been supported by a variety of agencies in Eastern Melbourne

12. Youth Advisory Group How it works: Reimbursements Transport
Training and practical support
Emotional support and debriefing

13. Youth Advisory Group
Some of the activities the Youth Advisory Group have participated in:
Explored different topics that impact on young people in Out-of-Home Care and then provided feedback and advice to locally based working groups.
Reviewed and provided honest and constructive feedback on program documentation and processes.
Shared their story for publications (eg. for donor appeal letters or blogs shared on social media).
Participated in a video on leaving care that is now being used to educate the wider community about the experience of young people in care.
Taking part in panel discussions with senior management.
Participated in Co-Design Sprints (more to come).

14. The steps and what you need to know
Co-Design
The steps and what you need to know

15. What is Co-Design?

16. Co-Design Process

17. STEP ONE: INQUIRE Inquire
Researching, empathising and interviewing various stakeholders impacted by the problem.
Understand the problem and define opportunities.

18. How do we do it? To really get to know your problem area, you need to:
Allow yourself to sit in the problem space without moving into problem solving. Immerse yourself in the problem.
Interview those with a lived experience of the problem you are trying to understand.
Use an empathic approach, rather than presenting as sympathetic.
-Video by Brene Brown

20. Define the problem
Based on the information that you have collected, you then clearly define your problem. When developing the definition of your problem you need to consider:
How would the person experiencing the problem define it?
Why does the problem exist?
Why would solving the problem matter to the person experiencing it?

21. STEP TWO: IDEATE Ideate
Brainstorming, solution development and risk-taking.
Generating ideas.

22. How do we do it?
The ideate phase is where you switch your thinking into problem solving mode and get brainstorming for solutions. Some of the ways in which you can encourage creative thinking are:
Making visual models out of plasticine
‘Idea challenge’
‘Somebody else’s shoes’
‘Yes, and…..’

23. STEP THREE: IMPLEMENT Implement
Prototyping, testing ideas and pitching.
Testing solutions.

24. How do we do it?

25. What did our Co-Design look like?

26. Critical friends

27. How we incorporated the Youth Advisory Group in Co-Design
The Youth Advisory Group were involved in the Co-Design process in a variety of ways:
Guest speakers
Becoming group participants
Presenting at showcase
Testing sessions

28. Testing sessions with young people

29. Outcomes of our Co-Design Process
Each Co-Design Team developed a real-world solution that is ready to be rolled out as a pilot program. The area partnership is currently seeking funding through grants to support the implementation of the pilot programs.

30. Key learnings and take home messages
points to remember
Key learnings and take home messages

31. Key learnings
When engaging in a Co-Design process, get to know the problem and then be creative in how you approach a solution. Test the ideas out on multiple stakeholders.
It’s important for young people to be in the right place to engage in youth advisory work so that it will be an empowering experience for them, rather than triggering.
It’s important to provide adequate support to young people.
Prepare to be held accountable, both in your decision making and your follow through.
Incorporating the voice of young people into design processes and problem solving will bring about more creative solutions that address the root cause of the issue.

32. Final take home message
Incorporating young people into processes like this is beneficial for services and young people
Having an opportunity to use past experiences in a positive way is empowering for young people and assists in their trauma recovery
What ways could you incorporate youth voice into your daily practice?

33. Questions?

34. With credit to: