Children's Commissioner's Take Over Day

On Friday 23rd November 2012 User Voice were asked to take part in this year's Children's Commissioner's Take Over Day.

This is a national event that gives young people the chance to shadow jobs, get involved in decision-making and offer their own opinions on key issues. 

User Voice took part by assisting one of our Youth Reps on the day when he met with the Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner. 

After helping with various tasks and taking part in discussions, the Deputy Children's Commissioner, Sue Berelowitz, has said that she will ensure that her business plan includes looking at the issue of criminal records for young people.

This was a great opportunity to voice my opinion and concerns and issues that affect all young people who are involved in the youth justice system.

User Voice Youth Rep

Youth Charter for Police & Crime Commissioners

The Youth Advisory Group are calling on all new Police & Crime Commissioners (PCCs) to sign the Youth Charter.

This Charter requests PCCs to pledge to show a commitment to young people in a number of ways.

It is supported by User Voice and was drafted with the assistance of two User Voice Youth Reps who took part in last year's What's Your Story 2011 project.

Complaints Roundtable

In July 2012 we were commissioned by the Office of the Children's Commissioner (OCC) to report on young people's experiences of complaints procedures in the Youth Justice System.

Further information about this project can be found here.

Click here to download the full report: Why are they going to listen to me?

On 7th November 2012 some of the User Voice Reps involved in the initial report attended the OCC offices to take part in a roundtable discussion to explore these issues further.

This was a great opportunity to discuss the barriers that young people face when attempting to submit complaints, and also to attempt to find solutions and recommendations to improve the system for everyone.

Following on from this, User Voice Youth Rep, Candice (age 19) has appeared in the January 2013 edition of Children & Young People Now magazine talking about whether the Children's Commissioner should be given stronger powers.

Click here to see Candice's opinion!

NEW REPORT - Children's Rights Alliance for England

A report has been published today about children's experiences of violence in custody. This report was assisted by User Voice.

 The summary of the report stated:

The young campaigners taking forward the recommendations are being supported by the organisation User Voice. Mark Johnson, the Founder of User Voice Said:

User Voice support the work of CRAE and in particular the research findings contained within this report. I'm pleased that some of the young people engaged with User Voice projects across the country are working with CRAE taking forward the report recommendations as 'Young Campaigners' in the second phase of the project.

This report showed that young people believe that cameras with sound recording should be installed in youth custody and police stations in order to protect young people from the threat of violence. 

You can read more about this report along with User Voice's involvement at: Children's Rights Alliance