OPEN International speaker series: Employing care‑experienced young people in voice & influence roles

This session was highly relevant to our participants, given legislation that recently passed in Victorian Parliament, drawing on the Scottish corporate parenting model of shared government responsibility for children in care.

Over more than two decades working with care‑experienced young people, Clare has led advocacy, voice‑influence initiatives, and systemic reform designed to ensure young people are heard, supported, and able to flourish. Drawing on her extensive background in one‑to‑one advocacy and age‑specific participation groups, she supports children and young people (from seven through to twenty‑five) to identify the local issues they want to change.

These issues often centre on reducing stigma, improving access to cultural opportunities, and for council to be more ‘aspirational’. Under her guidance, young people have developed large creative projects, staged performances, delivered professional training, and influenced local policy and practice. These efforts contributed to the transformation of Sheffield’s corporate parenting approach into a more engaging ‘community parenting’ model, complete with youth-led scrutiny processes that strengthened accountability, improved communication, and embedded young people’s voices at strategic levels.

…a huge lesson for me from this was seeing the partnership working. The headline is that I think it was massively successful.

A significant area of Clare’s work focused on tackling the barriers that prevented care‑experienced young people from securing sustainable employment. After witnessing the limitations of traditional apprenticeship models, she designed and secured approval for a new approach—creating five paid roles within the council grounded in therapeutic support, flexible hours, strong mentoring, and real career pathways. Over three years, this youth employment team delivered nearly forty commissioned projects, co‑facilitated participation groups, lectured at universities, produced podcasts, and two members gained youth work qualifications.

Collectively, these outcomes demonstrate her commitment to redesigning systems around young people’s lived realities: ensuring their talent is recognised, their contributions shape the city, and their voices drive lasting and meaningful change.

Clare’s presentation was followed by a group discussion, looking at the following focus questions:

1. There are power imbalances unique to paid voice lived experience roles. How do we acknowledge these and help employees have as much psychological safety as possible?
2. How do we ensure such roles create ongoing organisational change? What are the best mechanisms for doing this?
3. How do we ensure such roles as a gateway to wider employment for the individuals doing them?

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1. There are power imbalances unique to paid voice lived experience roles. How do we acknowledge these and help employees have as much psychological safety as possible?

Power imbalance

• The group acknowledged that power imbalances are inherent in paid lived‑experience roles, particularly for young people who may suddenly find themselves interacting closely with senior leaders without the organisational structures needed to support them. They emphasised the need for clear boundaries, consistent expectations, and supervision practices that mirror those used with any other employee, while still recognising the distinct vulnerabilities and likely histories lived‑experience workers may bring.

Balancing lived-experience roles as experts with trauma histories

• A key theme was balancing the need to treat lived experience roles as different where necessary (because of trauma histories, age, or context), while also embedding them as a legitimate source of expertise within the workforce, not a special favour or a symbolic inclusion. Participants also reflected on how differing perceptions of power shape these dynamics.

Unlearning the rules of authority

• Some professionals may need to unlearn assumptions about authority or expertise to make room for lived‑experience knowledge, and organisational culture must shift away from finite, zero‑sum views of power. Psychological safety, they noted, involves not simply shielding young people from harm but helping them develop self‑management skills typical of any emerging professional. Workers must also remain conscious that they may symbolise systems that have historically caused trauma, and therefore need to be deliberate about how they communicate, structure groups, and create environments that minimise re‑traumatisation. Overall, the group emphasised early engagement, clarity (of roles and expectations), and supportive structures as essential for mitigating power imbalances and enabling lived‑experience employees to participate safely and confidently.

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2. How do we ensure such roles create ongoing organisational change? What are the best mechanisms for doing this?

Shift from tokenism to genuine organisational readiness

• The group emphasised that meaningful organisational change goes beyond tokenistic inclusion of lived experience roles. This requires genuine organisational readiness—sector wide investment, committed leadership, positive messaging, strong supervision structures, and staff networks that recognise lived experience as a legitimate professional discipline rather than an optional add on.

Embed lived experience into systems, not events

• Participants highlighted the importance of ongoing representation and structured feedback loops. Sustained change comes from embedding lived experience into governance, education, and accountability processes—for example, training boards and managers on inclusive practice, and establishing mechanisms like a youth impact collective that works directly with decision makers.

Use continuous insight and participation to guide decision making

• The group stressed practical tools to keep lived experience perspectives central: annual surveys, reporting requirements, and ensuring young people present directly to boards. These mechanisms help leaders consistently understand, respond to, and act on lived experience insights in an ongoing, integrated way.

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3. How do we ensure such roles as a gateway to wider employment for the individuals doing them?

Build skills that translate to wider employment

• The group agreed that lived‑experience roles should genuinely support young people to move into broader career pathways by intentionally developing their skills and confidence.
• They emphasised the need to balance empathy and support with clear expectations and boundaries, ensuring these roles reflect real workplace conditions rather than tasks that don’t translate to other employment settings.
• Structured opportunities, such as job‑coaching, mentoring, and exposure to different industries, were highlighted as valuable for helping young people discover interests and build transferable capabilities.

Provide practical, passion‑aligned skill development

• Participants discussed the value of offering training that aligns with young people’s interests (e.g., developing graphic design skills through visual scribing) so they can build tangible, marketable competencies.
• These approaches ensure young people contribute meaningfully to organisational work while building skills that can be used in future employment.

Strengthen social capital and create pathways into work

• Social capital was identified as a major enabler of economic participation, with many young people relying on professionals for encouragement, networks, and the “tap on the shoulder” moments others gain through family connections.
• The group stressed supporting young people to build strong professional portfolios, such as résumés, LinkedIn profiles, and references connected to their long‑term goals.
• They also emphasised creating structured pathways to qualifications and industry exposure (e.g., short,accredited courses, trial shifts with supportive employers). These targeted opportunities, often created through community networks and local partnerships, can become stepping stones to sustained employment.

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More on Community Parenting in Sheffield

What does it mean to be a Community Parent to our city’s care experienced children and young people? Why’s it needed? Who are some of our stand out community parents and what difference do they make?