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Route map: Participation and engagement

This route map was last updated in December 2025 with all information that is known about work underway and still required. It is not yet fully populated and work continues to identify what still needs to happen. Route maps are shared planning tools to support delivery of the promise and as progress is made and the rest of the route becomes clearer, this route map will continue to be updated. 

Where is Scotland now?

Work underway includes resources such as the Seeing Beyond the Surface guide, supporting inclusive and relational engagement. There is growing recognition that participation must be ongoing, accessible and grounded in trust, not one-off consultation. Next steps focus on improving consistency across services, strengthening workforce skills and confidence, and responding to diverse needs. Further work will strengthen links between participation, listening, decision making and documenting decisions so people can see how their views influence outcomes. Sustained collaboration is essential to embed participation within a rights-based system.

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Participation and engagement

Where does Scotland need to be by 2030?

All of the promise's calls to action have been grouped into delivery-focused outcomes that make clear what Scotland must deliver to keep the promise. The route map then identifies who must take responsibility for action by when for each outcome. This means the outcomes are fully aligned to what children, young people, and care experienced adults said must happen and the actions required are in a format that supports delivery, accountability, and monitoring. 

The outcomes in Participation and Engagement are: 

  • Children, young people, families and care experienced adults meaningfully influence decisions that affect their lives, with their voices and those of trusted adults prioritised over professional hierarchy
  • Children, young people, and care experienced adults understand and own their personal histories and care records, and are supported in accessing them safely and meaningfully.
Where does Scotland need to be by 2030?

The route map to get there

Seeing Beyond the Surface interactive guide to participation and engagement produced by Our Hearings Our Voice.

Participation network facilitated by Staf.

'Consider with Care' produced by Social Action inquiry Scotland, a resource for people working with people with lived experience of care.

As part of a joint project between SCRA (Scottish Children’s Reporters Administration) & Police Scotland, three reporters are being appointed to go to police hubs in Kilmarnock, Dumbarton & Hamilton to support the establishment of a Children’s Hearing Champion model and to support wider learning and referral practices within those hubs.

February 2026 -The Children's Parliament have created three new resources to help involve children in service design, supporting services to work in a way that will keep the promise.

The Planning and Preparing for Hearings Workstream of the Children's Hearings Redesign Board will review the recommendations in Chapter 8 and 9 of ‘Hearings for Children’ (the participation and preparation before a Children’s Hearing and the voices and involvement of children and their families in the Hearing) and determine a work programme to take forward policy and practice changes.

The Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Act 2026 removed a child's obligation to attend their Hearing. As this provision is implemented, there must be discussions about how to ensure that this provision is accompanied by a range of alternative options and ways to support and uphold children’s right to participate in their Hearing in ways that make sense to them.

CELCIS’ action plans to implement changes relating to voluntary measures (s.25 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995) will be published and are likely to include actions to improve children’s participation and engagement in child protection processes and non statutory measures.

There are no milestones identified for this year yet. Once progress is made in earlier years, the work required in this year will be clearer and milestones will be added here.

There are no milestones identified for this year yet. Once progress is made in earlier years, the work required in this year will be clearer and milestones will be added here.

There are no milestones identified for this year yet. Once progress is made in earlier years, the work required in this year will be clearer and milestones will be added here.

There are no milestones identified for this year yet. Once progress is made in earlier years, the work required in this year will be clearer and milestones will be added here.

Who needs to work on this:

Scottish Government, COSLA, Hearings Redesign Board, Children's Parliament 

Other route maps this links to:

Listening

Decision making

Documenting decisions

To see which calls to action from the promise sit under this outcome, click here.

Scottish Government is undertaking exploratory work with the Adoption Taskforce to identify options to improve consistency and practice in life journey work. 

Social Work Scotland historical abuse subgroup will progress work to support the recommendations made in Accessing Records in Scotland: What people with care experience tell us about the Right of Access.

The Scottish Government, building on their exploratory work with the Adoption Taskforce in 2025, will identify and work with partners on scoping and beginning development of a national framework, guide, and toolkit for the workforce to support life journey work. 

Development of guidance and quality standards relating to family connections and lifestory work in Scotland for practitioners, co-designed with children, families and members of the workforce and reflective of existing knowledge and evidence. Guidance and practice standards for Lifelong Links already exists and should be implemented.

Dissemination of guidance and quality standards relating to family connections and lifestory work in Scotland for practitioners.

All local authorities will be in the process of setting up Lifelong Links, or are delivering it. At a local level this means: connecting Lifelong Links to existing Family Group Decision Making services; senior management commitment and leadership; experienced Family Group Decision Making coordinators attend Lifelong Links training and practice learning sets; a commitment to work within the agreed national quality standards framework; and children and family involvement in service development.

Implementation of Lifelong Links in those local authorities that do not have it who have an existing Family Group Decision Making Service.

Implementation begins of Lifelong Links in remaining local authorities, embedded within new Family Group Decision Making services.

All children in Scotland are offered Lifelong Links regardless of which local authority they reside in. Plans begin to integrate funding into mainstream funds and ensure that seeking family connections becomes a core part of practice for those working alongside children and families without the need for specific Lifelong Links workers. 

Funding for family connections and lifestory work is incorporated into all local authority budgets and all children in Scotland are offered this, regardless of where they are. The long term aim is for all children in Scotland to be offered Lifelong Links regardless of which local authority they reside in.

Who needs to work on this:

Association for Fostering, Kinship and Adoption (AFKA) Scotland, Scottish Government, Local Authorities, Social Work Scotland, Family Rights Group 

Other route maps this links to:

Documenting decisions

Decision making

Data and information

To see which calls to action from the promise sit under this outcome, click here.

What matters to children, families, and care experienced adults

I have ownership of my information; I can access and shape my records easily and I can decide who I want to share it with or not.

I have all the information I want about the things that impact me, I understand it, and I have chances to ask any questions and have them answered.

I am actively and meaningfully involved in decisions and plans that affect me.

Having an influence over the things that matter to me is a normal, easy part of my everyday life.

I am supported to understand what my rights and entitlements are.

Find out more about what matters here

Foundations