Welcome to another week.

Human rights-focused anti-poverty organisation ATD Fourth World, and the Human Rights Centre of the University of Essex are carrying out research about how the child protection system negatively affects children and young people, and their human rights.

As part of this research, it is inviting children and young people to take part in online focus groups.

The researchers would like to speak with children or young people who have experienced poverty and who have had interactions with social services. They would also like to hear from parents with the same kinds of experiences, and social workers who have had first-hand experience of risk-aversion in practice, how social services see families in poverty, and involuntary (forced) closed adoptions.

In the press release, Kaydence Drayak who volunteers for Teen Advocacy and ATD Fourth World and who is co-leading the research, said, “Young people are often completely at the mercy of the decisions made by adults. The ways that child participation is built into the current system in the UK is a one-size-fits-all box ticking exercise. This is often infuriating and damaging to children — to their trust in those who profess to care, to their self-esteem, and to their identity as an individual with rights who is worthy of respect.”

Children and other participants have been invited to select one of four focus groups.

The dates for the focus groups are:

• Saturday 26 November at 3 pm
• Tuesday 29 November at 2 pm
• Friday 2 December at 9:30 am
• Tuesday 13 December at 2 pm.

If you would like to take part in the resarch, please contact Diana Skelton at skeltond@atd-uk.org, and say which group you would take part in, and which of these dates could work for you.

You can access the press release in full here.