Imagine yourself listening to every single one of those children as they tell you something important about themselves. How informed, how privileged would you feel to hear 10,000 different children’s voices, allowing you into their worlds? Hearing what makes them happy, how they are feeling, how safe they are, how they feel about school and what makes them tick. All of those unique pieces of information help you understand children and young people better.

This is exactly what CareTech has done. Using Mind Of My Own apps, children and young people in their care and schools have shared their thoughts and feelings 10,000 times and the staff have been there ready to hear and act upon those voices.

There is a question we always ask – ‘So what?’

So what difference has this made?

We have heard of many children being able to disclose some really hard-to-share information through our apps. However, I’d like to tell you about just one of those voices because, as a former social worker, I know it was a defining and potentially lifesaving moment in that child’s life – one I personally will never forget. It is exactly why we do what we do, at Mind Of My Own.

I’d like to tell you about Hallie; a young woman in their care who was able to disclose historical abuse. This is why children’s voices matter.

Hallie was able to use the One app to share with her carers something that had happened to her which was difficult to say. In this way, she was ultimately able to share valuable insights about her situation which eventually stood as evidence in a prosecution. By hearing her voice, CareTech practitioners were able to support her in working through this past experience.

Many children and young people never disclose the abuse they experience resulting in negative impacts on their mental wellbeing. Research shows us that it can take many years for people to open up about their experiences and sadly many have poor interactions when they do try and disclose.

I always think about the many other young people like Hallie who might be able to start their difficult conversations if they were given the chance. This really matters to all of us and I am so grateful to the staff at CareTech who listened, understood and responded positively when she shared her views. Hallie is just one of many more stories.

Data supporting good practice

By hearing children’s voices through Mind Of My Own, at the touch of a button CareTech can see where their young people feel safe and use this data to transform practice and support safe services.

Through the Safety Link and by knowing which young people are struggling, resources can be deployed to exactly the right children at exactly the right time.

One of their Directors of Care told us recently: “The safety link (the built-in safeguarding feature) has worked well for us. For example, one young person was able to share that they were struggling with a traumatic move from their family home so we could support them through that.”

We have seen a real commitment from everyone we work with at all levels of CareTech to make sure their practice fully takes account of everything that the children and young people are telling them. We look forward to our continued partnership and to hearing all about the next 10,000 children’s voices being heard and the huge difference this makes to children and young people.