Everyone has rights!
Children and young people have rights and it's a good idea if you know what your rights are.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is an international agreement between lots of different countries to give children and young people a set of rights. The UK agreed to obey these rights in 1991. This means that our government has to make sure that every child has all the rights in the convention.
The Convention has 54 articles - most of these are rights but some say how adults and governments should work together to make sure all children get their rights.
There are other important laws, which also give children and young people rights.
These are:
- The Children Act 2004
- The National Framework for Children, Young People and Maternity Services
- The Adoption and Children Act 2002
Back to the top
Below is a list of some of your rights:
You have a right to:
- Be treated with respect, as a real person, whatever your age.
- Be treated fairly whatever your age, race, your disability, your religion, or the clothes you wear.
- Be listened to and your feelings and wishes heard and considered when people are making plans about your future.
- Be able to go to school.
- Be in good health.
- Be able to complain if you are unhappy or worried about something, like being bullied, abused, not listened to etc...
- Be able to have an independent visitor if you don't have regular contact with your family. (See You and Your Family for more details.)
- Be able to have an advocate who can help you sort things out when you make a complaint or are unhappy about something. (See later on in this section for more details.)
- See your file. This is called a Case File and contains information about you and your family. It also contains reports, records of reviews and important decisions made about you. Your social worker will have the main file.
Back to the top
Unless you tell us what you are unhappy about, we cannot try to put it right. Don't be frightened to make a complaint. We will take your complaint seriously and help to put things right
If you would like to make a complaint there are a number of ways which you can do this.
- Talk it through with your Social Worker or contact their manager
- Use a complaints leaflet - ask your Social Worker for a Young Persons Complaint leaflet which has a tear off section for you to write your complaint
- Ring the Customer Relations Team on 0800 9155501, or email social.services.complaints@eastriding.gov.uk.
- Send a letter to the Social Services Complaints Officer, East Riding of Yorkshire Council, County Hall, Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire, HU17 9BR
- Make a complaint via the Council's website at www.eastriding.gov.uk
Who can I ask for help to complain?
If you want some help to make a complaint or if you just want to have your say you can contact either:
- The Children and Young People's Participation Team (Tel: 01482 396823 or Text: 07770 700702)
- Your family or a friend
- Your carers
- Your Social Worker
Back to the top
The Children and Young People's Participation Team is a service for children and young people. Any child or young person who is looked after by the East Riding of Yorkshire Council can use the service.
What can the Children and Young People's Participation Team help you with?
This is your service - this means that if you contact us to help we will not talk to anyone else or do anything without telling you first. The only time we would have to talk to your parent/carer or social worker straight away would be if we thought you were in danger.
Young people contact us for lots of different reasons:
- Not feeling listened to when decisions are made about your care
- Being bullied
- Wanting to find out about your rights
- Wanting to find out how to make a complaint
- Wanting to get involved in making services better for young people
- And lots of other reasons too!!
What does the Children and Young People's Participation Team do?
- We visit all children and young people who become Looked After by the council to make sure that you know what is happening to you and give you information on your rights and responsibilities
- We can give you information and advice to make sure you know how to have your say and how to make sure you let the adults looking after you know your views and opinions
- We try to find out your views and opinions on the services the council provide for you. We might write to you to ask you, or come and see you on your own or in a group, or invite you to an event that we organise
- We come and see you before your review and bring out Viewpoint- a computer programme that sends your views to your review. Viewpoint has games and different characters for you to choose so it's a fun way of making sure you have your views listened to in your review.
An Advocate is someone who does not work for the Council.
An advocate is an adult who will help you sort out any problems you have about being looked after. They will help you make sure that you get the rights you are entitled to. This person can attend meetings with you or see you on your own and they can offer you advice and support. If you think that you need help from an advocate the Children and Young People's Participation Team can make sure that you know who to contact.
Back to the top
It is very important that you know what your rights are.
However, it is also important that you take responsibility for your own decisions and actions. There are lots of people, like social workers, carers, advocates and your family who will be able to offer you support and advice but as you are growing up you will need to take more and more responsibility for your own decisions and how you treat others. You will need to think about the feelings and wishes of the people around you and how the decisions you make may affect others.
For more info on your rights speak to your social worker, the Children and Young People's Participation Team or visit:
Voice (provides advocacy for children and young people)
www.voice.org
Freephone 0808 800 5792 (Mon-Fri: 9.30am-5.30pm)
Who Cares? Trust
www.thewhocarestrust.org.uk
Telephone 020 7251 3117
Rights 4 Me (the website for the Office for the Children's Rights Director for England)
www.rights4me.org
Freephone 0800 528 0731
National Youth Advocacy Service
www.nyass.net
Freephone 0800 61 61 01 or text to 0777 333 4555 or email help@nyass.net
Back to top of page