Engaging children and young people in Scotland

This week ADR Scotland announced a pilot project in partnership with Children in Scotland on engaging children and young people with data.

One of ADR Scotland’s core research themes is focused on understanding children’s lives and outcomes, led by Professor Morag Treanor. ADR Scotland are passionate about and committed to meaningfully engaging children and young people in their work and learning from their perspectives. This is in line with the recent incorporation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) into Scots Law. It also aligns with their commitment to The Promise, a programme which is driving forward findings of the Independent Care Review in Scotland.

Children in Scotland has been commissioned to run the pilot and bring extensive experience in supporting the participation of children and young people as well as strong existing networks. They will work closely with Scottish Centre for Administrative Data Research (SCADR) colleagues to engage a group of children over a series of sessions to explore questions such as:

• What is administrative data and how is it being used in research? 
• What research is going to be carried out using children and young people’s data?
• What are the best ways to communicate research findings to children and young people?
• How do children and young people wish to be involved in research which uses their data in future?   

ADR Scotland look forward to sharing their findings from this project in 2022.

Robert Porter, Research Lead, Centre for Excellence for Children’s Care and Protection (CELCIS), who is working on the project explained:

 “This innovative pilot gives SCADR the opportunity to hear directly from children and young people about the use of their data. Through this work with Children in Scotland, we can set the standards and expectations for involving and informing children and young people in research projects that use their administrative data across the UK”

Amy Woodhouse, Head of Policy, Projects & Participation, Children in Scotland said: “We’re really excited to be working with SCADR on this new pilot project. In Scotland we gather a lot of evidence and data about children and young people’s lives to help us make decisions, but we could do so much more to think about children and young people as audiences for this evidence themselves. By working with children and young people in this project, we hope to improve how adults communicate research about children and young people with children and young people. We’re looking forward to hearing their recommendations.”