Child and family support

What’s being done?

This tracker sets out all of the actions that Devon County Council and its partners have taken in direct response to the issues that matter most to you!

Over the last few years, young people in Devon been speaking up about the issues that matter most to them. As the Devon Youth Council, we’ve summarised this feedback into a series of key targets, set out in each category below, of what we’d like to see happen in Devon. Please note that these targets are written by the Devon Youth Council to Devon County Council and its partners.

We are working with the Nation Youth Advocacy Service (NYAS) to ensure that the actions listed below are also reflected in your experience of any of the changes that we have made.

This page is updated quarterly. The current version reflects any changes up and including those that were made between April and June 2026.

Housing and home

🎯 We would like you to work together to ensure a smoother and faster transition into appropriate and stable 18+ housing, with a consistent and supportive approach regardless of where we live in Devon.

  • What we’ve done
    • All registered Young Carers across Devon can access a Young Carers transition assessment before you turn 18 – this looks at where you want to live and what you need to achieve this.
    • The evaluation of the Care Experienced Therapeutic Wellbeing Service (CETWS) showed real improvements in young people being able to access and settle into accommodation after receiving the support – this shows how wellbeing work supports greater housing stability. We have also done a Health Needs Analysis so we can understand what is needed during times of transition to support stability in housing and home.
    • The SUSU council members have worked with commissioning managers to create a better model for 16+ supported housing and accommodation which includes trauma-informed training and mental health training for support staff. The new plan was finalised in September 2025, training is currently being provided, and the model will be put into effect starting in September 2026.
    • B+Bs are now only used to house young people in emergencies for as short a time as possible.
    • The strength-based HUB forms for housing are now consistently being used so that there is less focus on ‘risk’ and more on what young people have achieved and can succeed in.
    • Young people who are living in the first Staying Close home have shared their views on what Devon County Council should do about making sure the Staying Close Homes are right for the young people who move into them. Additionally, transitions into appropriate housing for Care Leavers is part of the new model of 16+ housing which members of the SUSU council have been co-producing with the Commissioning Team.
    • The housing options pages of the SUSU website has been updated so that it is easier to understand and has all the information.
    • We held a focus group with care-experienced young people currently not in education, employment or training (NEET) and this has helped to inform how we will provide you with more individualised support into employment.
    • When care-experienced young people can prove that they are ready to live independently, their Band B rating is backdated to their 16th birthday. This gives a higher priority to care experienced young people.
    • If you are care-experienced, living in supported housing and also working (full time or part time), DCC will pay the service charge of the accommodation provider so that you can keep more of your money.
    • The Care Leaver Joint Housing Protocol has been launched.  It provides a commitment for District Housing Officers and DCC to work in partnership to achieve best outcomes for Care Leavers.
    • There have been two joint training events with housing district colleagues and PAs to look a how best to support care experienced young people with housing needs which included training on the law and trauma-informed practice.
    • We are tracking in our data the occurrence of the use of the legal term ‘intentionally homeless’ in relation to care-experienced young people, so that we can ensure that going forwards this will only occur in very specific circumstances. We cannot at this stage get rid of its use entirely.
    • We have developed our Staying Close model which is an in-house form of supported accommodation to provide stability for young people and prepare them for their own tenancies. Four Staying Close houses have opened across Exeter, Exmouth and Honiton as a DCC-managed alternative to commissioned supported housing.
  • What we’re doing
    • Through the new feedback process, several young people who have engaged with the Youth Justice service have expressed anxiety about where they will live post‑18, which we have fed into management and the Partnership Board discussions.
    • The new 16+ model for supported housing involves working in partnership with our District Councils to develop a range of affordable move on options. There will be clear move on plans which will be developed at each stage of the model.
    • The new 16+ model for supported housing will limit the number of moves allowed so that problems are addressed properly rather than just moving young people from one place to another.
    • In the new 16+ model for supported housing, young people will have a consistent key worker who will support them to make and maintain community connections.
    • In the new 16+ model for supported housing, there will be a requirement as a minimum standard for staff in the homes to be trained in mental health.
    • Members of the SUSU council have visited residential home providers around England and are working with the Commissioning team to decide which Provider should be responsible for new children’s homes in Devon as part of the Growing Futures Project.
    • We are increasing our renting ready/tenancy training offer to help young people be able to transition to their own tenancies and demonstrate their budgeting and independent living skills as this is an expectation of landlords whether that be private or social housing. Young people need to engage with these to move forwards.
    • We know that if you have Special Educational Needs or Difficulties, you will need more support to transition into appropriate housing. The TASC team are creating a transitions pathway that should make it easier for you to access support and understand what is happening next.

Education, employment and training

🎯 We would like you to work together to ensure that more of us with SEND, care-experience, or who are young carers are supported to thrive in our education and, ultimately, achieve paid employment in a field which interests us.

  • What we’ve done
    • All registered young carers in Devon can access support from the Post-16 Learning Participation Team. This service is available from school year 11 upwards, whether or not in education. The team may contact you or your parent/carer to offer help with education, training, or finding a job.
    • If a young person doesn’t get a job after completing a Supported Internship, they are being supported to go straight to the employment hub.
    • A network of volunteers has been developed to be able to give job application and interview support to Care-experienced young people who are applying for DCC vacancies.
    • The Echo Network met with the Director General of Department for Education to talk about what works for care-experienced young people in apprenticeships.
    • The evaluation of the Care Experienced Therapeutic Wellbeing Service (CETWS) showed that young people who received support from the service had improved wellbeing and self confidence, which underpin readiness for education, employment and training engagement.
    • The NHS Devon Designated Nurse has been working with health services across Devon and national organisations to promote work opportunities for care experienced young people. This resulted in several care experienced young people gaining employment in the NHS and removing some of the barriers for our young people to apply for NHS jobs.
    • The new ‘Brighter Futures’ Strategy has been agreed and is based on what young people and families have been saying about access to education. The strategy has a particular focus on meeting the needs of young people with SEND, care-experience, Youth Justice involvement, Young Carers and young parents so that they can access education and employment.
    • We have received recognition from Ofsted Inspectors that more care experienced young people are moving into education, training and employment, and more young people are going to university.
    • We have run our first ‘Working Office’ programme for Care Leavers which gives an opportunity to have the experience of working in an office as well as a certificate to prove it. More are booked for 2026.
    • We have introduced an additional 200 Further Education place for young people with SEND at Petroc college and 12 at South Devon college from September 2025. In addition, we have again commissioned 40 places on Petroc’s Home to Onsite (H2O) programme throughout the academic year, which supports young people who need a tailored and thorough transition and support to access college provision, and an additional 37 places to be delivered through South Devon college.
    • Young people who are accessing alternative education provisions have shared their views on what is working and what needs looking at in these provisions so that the commissioning service can make sure they purchase the right kind of support. As a result of the views young people have shared on Alternative Education Provision, the commissioning team have made some key changes to their requirements.
    • We held a focus group with care-experienced young people currently not in education, employment or training (NEET) and this has helped to inform how we will provide you with more individualised support into employment.
    • An online vocational profile tool has been developed as part of a project on future careers led by Network for Change. The group created a questionnaire for young people in special schools exploring career aspirations and barriers to access those. The results of the questionnaire have been used with the new tool and will result in creating the right careers support for young people in Special Schools to work towards future careers and jobs that they will enjoy.
    • Devon County Council are developing their works experience offer for care leavers and have updated the guidance for managers to support care-experienced young people with work experience opportunities.
    • The first version of the Ordinarily Available Inclusive Provision (OAIP) framework has been developed to improve universal support and inclusion for all children and young people in schools and settings. This is currently being embedded within schools across Devon.
    • A locality based Early Help Education offer is being piloted in North Devon since September 2024 to support schools, enabling a more proactive approach to supporting children and young people.
    • An additional 50 Further Education places for young people with SEN were introduced in September.
    • We have developed and rolled out Cyber Fundamentals workshops, designed specifically for SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) schools through the Raising Digital Engagement Programme for KS3 students.
    • PACE (Positive about Care Experience)  training programme for education providers and employers has been launched so that colleges and employers are more trauma-informed and understanding of support they can offer to care-experienced young people.
    • Virtual School learning advocate for young asylum seekers has been appointed. This will help Young Asylum Seekers to access appropriate support for learning.
    • An online vocational profile tool has been developed to support young people with SEND to consider their motivation, interests, work attitudes, resource, and support needs by gathering and assessing information that is relevant to their future job and career aspirations. It was launched to schools and professionals on 28 November 2024.
    • The Youth Voice event in November 2024 clearly demonstrated the need for more neuro-affirming spaces in schools and colleges. This message has been heard, and the Head of Education is working on embedding the Ordinarily Available Inclusive Provision guidance for all schools in Devon so that schools are as inclusive as possible.
    • We have a range of works experience opportunities for care-experienced young people across Devon and are matching young people to them through our newly developed Talent Bank. If you want future employment opportunities please speak to your PA.
    • There is a new internal pathway planning forum that looks at post-18 planning for care-experienced young people from the age of 16.5 so that we can support social workers to put things in place for your education, training and housing and look ahead, as we know that things can become more difficult at 18 so early planning is important.
    • The Aspirations worker employed by the Virtual School is specifically looking at care-experienced young people who do not have a post 16 or post 18 education plan.
  • What we’re doing
    • Devon County Council has approved an additional £20.5 million funding to support provision for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), helping more young people access high-quality education closer to home. This boosts the total investment committed to increasing local provision to £39 million. The programme will see new investment in mainstream schools, specialist provision and post-16 settings, creating additional places and improving support for pupils with a range of needs. It includes the development of inclusion bases within mainstream schools, expansion of specialist provision, and improvements to existing school facilities.
    • The Youth Justice Advisory group (YJA) have identified work experience and education support as priorities and explained the barriers they have experienced .We have partnered with the Skill Mill to support access to employment.
    • We will develop and launch the e-learning module (by July 2026) to improve awareness and support for care-experienced young people across our education partners
    • We are piloting a free bus with Stagecoach for a small number of care leavers who need it in order to help with getting to work experience opportunities and to work.
    • We are working with Exeter College to help care-experienced young people access individualised apprenticeships (as part of the PACE programme).
    • Young asylum seekers have raised with us the challenges some of you are facing to access education, employment and training opportunities. This has been raised with the Deputy Director who is looking at how to address this problem. The college are looking at different options other than just ESOL.
    • Young asylum seekers have raised some of the challenges around integration in some education facilities in Devon. The Head of Education has spoken with the college who are considering how to address this.
    • University of Exeter are developing their offer to care leavers.

Mental health

🎯 We would like you to work together to improve mental health support up to the age of 25. Focus your attention on the needs of vulnerable groups, addressing gaps in services, the transition into adult services, and the early help support offer. 

  • What we’ve done
    • We have appointed a social worker to provide enhanced support through the adult social care transition process for young people with mental health needs.​
    • An oversight group with Children and Families Health Devon and Adult Health provision has been set up so that feedback from young people can be responded to effectively.
    • The evaluation of the Care Experienced Therapeutic Wellbeing Service (CETWS) has shown significant improvements in mental wellbeing and emotional regulation for care experienced young people. The evaluation also evidenced how CETWS fills gaps for those not meeting other service thresholds.
    • The new My Way service commissioned by NHS Devon offers a therapeutic service to those who are care experienced/ have SEND to an extended age of 25 years, as requested by young people.
    • A new emotional well being service, My Way, has been launched by Young Devon and partners across Devon. It has been designed in partnership with young people and in response to the needs that have been raised by young people over several years.
    • Our Lifelong Links project recognises the positive impact of long-term trusted relationships for care-experienced young people on wellbeing and future relationships. Our Young Care-experienced Lead will be giving a presentation on Lifelong Links to PAs soon so that as many of you as possible can access this opportunity. Lifelong links is growing in its impact. It received 25 referrals in 2023-24 and 73 referrals 2024-25. Of these, many young people have been re-connected with people who are important to them.
    • A new emotional wellbeing service, My Way, has been launched by Young Devon and partners for Devon, Plymouth and Torbay.  It has been designed in partnership with young people and in response to the needs that have been raised by young people over several years. It provides free, early-access support to children and young people, giving them the tools to improve their mental health. Designed with a particular focus on 11–17 year olds but accessible for young people aged 8–25, the service brings together community-based support, face-to-face therapeutic care, and digitally delivered advice, guidance and therapy.
    • We have introduced an additional 200 Further Education place for young people with SEND at Petroc college and 12 at South Devon college from September 2025. In addition, we have again commissioned 40 places on Petroc’s Home to Onsite (H2O) programme throughout the academic year, which supports young people who need a tailored and thorough transition and support to access college provision, and an additional 37 places to be delivered through South Devon college.
    • We have started a project to improve Lifestory work so that we can improve the quality and consistency of this and prevent ongoing questions about your early life affecting your mental health as you get older. A member of Children’s Services staff attended the SUSU council meeting in February to share new Lifestory booklets and training for workers. The council liked the approach and think it will work. The training has been delivered throughout March and April 2025.
    • There are now seven Neurodiversity Navigators based across the county to support families of children and young people with neuro diverse needs (diagnosed and undiagnosed) to help them access the right support at the right time.
    • Adult Social Care have employed a Mental Health Social Worker to support young people during the transition into adulthood.
    • Members of the Devon Youth Council shared the results of their mental health support in schools and colleges research at the Devon schools leadership conference in March.
    • 100% of new referrals for adult social care made pre-18 go via the Transition Team (the added cohort is those with a primary diagnosis of Autism), with the aim that everyone receives the same experience approaching social care at the point of transition.
    • Children in Care CAMHS review has taken place including a focus group with care-experienced young people.
    • The new Therapeutic Wellbeing Practitioners will research the issues that care-experienced young people have raised around mental health support needs-  particularly the gaps in provision and the transition into adult services. They will advocate for you to get support when you need it and offer some therapeutic support themselves if required. A member of the SUSU council is now part of the TWS steering group to ensure that the young person’s view is at the centre of the project.
    • The Devon Youth Council have completed their peer research into MHST provision and the results have been shared with NHS commissioners who are considering next steps
    • Mental health was identified as the top issue for young people in Devon in 2024-25. The Devon Youth Council facilitated a Youth Voice Saturday event on Mental health support in schools and colleges which was well attended by NHS and Inclusion managers. The key messages from the event can be read here.
    • Three new Therapeutic Wellbeing Practitioners (TWP) for Care Leavers have been employed and are all now in post.
    • In order to educate paediatricians on the importance of understanding mental health needs and fighting for support for young people’s mental health needs when they stay in hospital, a member of the Devon Youth Council worked with the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health to create a training video for doctors based on her life-experiences.
    • We have bought a number of Rees Foundation Ask Jan subscriptions for Care Leavers. This subscription offers counselling, peer support and other opportunities. Speak to your PA if you would like to access this offer.
  • What we’re doing
    • We are working with Children and Families Health Devon and Adult Mental Health Services to improve the pathway between the two.
    • Young people who engage with the Youth Justice Service highlighted that support with mental health, wellbeing and managing anger is one of their top priorities. Youth Justice Feedback reports now include a specific section on access to emotional wellbeing support and we have made sure that feedback about barriers accessing timely mental health interventions has been shared with the Youth Justice Partnership Board.
    • SUSU council members met with the lead for a new wellbeing service which is planned for 2026. They shared what should be included and prioritised with this service which will be for young people who receive support from social care.
    • We are working towards having an award-winning mental health support programme rolled out across all schools in Devon by 2029. This will see primary, secondary and colleges across the county equipped with dedicated mental health practitioners on site in all schools through The Mental Health Support Team in schools (MHST). Schools will also have access to training, consultations, digital mental health tools as well as access to a network of trained professionals to provide both preventative and responsive services.
    • Children in Care CAMHS will be redesigned over the next 6 months according to the results of the review and resources.
    • The Thrive directory of community support services for mental health has been created. This now needs to be embedded and used effectively by professionals working with young people.
    • We are developing our training offer to foster carers so that they can better understand and support young people who are experiencing mental health challenges. CAMHs is due to run a group for Foster carers on Nurturing Attachment starting in the autumn 2025.
    • Some leisure centres in Devon are offering free access for care-experienced young people as we know exercise is important for wellbeing. We are working with local councils to get all council leisure centres to adopt this policy.

Physical health

🎯 We would like you to ensure that health provision and information is accessible and holistic and that transitions are supported and smooth. 

  • What we’ve done
    • An oversight group with Children and Families Health Devon and Adult Health provision has been set up so that feedback from young people can be responded to effectively.
    • We have created one point of access to adult social care with the online referral form so that the process is simpler.​
    • The Children in Care Nursing Service now offers extended visits for care-experienced 17-year-olds for their health reviews. This allows more time for discussion around health history and future health. All young people are given a Health Passport with personal health information and QR codes/signposting to appropriate health information.
    • We have introduced an additional 200 Further Education place for young people with SEND at Petroc college and 12 at South Devon college from September 2025. In addition, we have again commissioned 40 places on Petroc’s Home to Onsite (H2O) programme throughout the academic year, which supports young people who need a tailored and thorough transition and support to access college provision, and an additional 37 places to be delivered through South Devon college.
    • Free prescriptions for all Care Leavers for anything other than one-off prescriptions has now been launched.
    • There are now two trauma-informed NHS dentist practices in Devon who will ensure priority access to Children in Care and Care Leavers.  One is in Plymouth and one in Ilfracombe.
    • An online Neurodiversity Hub has been developed to provide resources to support to children and young people of all ages who are neurodivergent and their families.
    • 100% of new referrals for adult social care made pre-18 go via the Transition Team (the added cohort is those with a primary diagnosis of Autism), with the aim that everyone receives the same experience approaching social care at the point of transition.
    •  NHS Devon has agreed to fund Pre-Payment Certificates for Care Leavers who are not currently covered by free prescription categories. This will go live by 1 April 2025.
    • We have worked with some young asylum seekers to create a video about Initial Health Assessments so that it is less confusing and scary for new young people arriving in Devon. The video has been translated into several different languages. This piece of work won Coram Voice’s Digital Award in its national awards in 2024.
  • What we’re doing
    • No actions currently in progress.

Identity and community

🎯 It is important that you ensure we have support to explore and understand our Identity, to find our place in our communities and to feel welcome, included and celebrated. Includes accessible transport.

  • What we’ve done
    • We have designed and delivered webinars on understanding different cultures in our Devon schools.
    • Network for Change have worked with Commissioning and Active Devon to co-design some Family Days out for families with SEND and some interactive Active Explorer leaflets showing accessible outdoor places in Devon.
    • We have delivered equality, diversity and inclusion awareness and bullying awareness workshops in Devon’s Mentally Healthy Schools conference.
    • We have created a one-minute guide on supporting children observing Ramadan.
    • We have worked with schools to share good practice and guidance on the new Ofsted’s requirements for inclusion and multilingualism.
    • We hosted an Iftar meal during Ramadan for our Young Asylum Seekers and have also started cooking sessions to celebrate cultural diversity.
    • Since the 1 April 2026, Companion Passes for bus travel have been introduced in Torbay, and Torbay/Devon passes can be used in each area.
    • Devon Youth Council celebrated the end of the first round of Places to Go Things to Do funding which was started as part of the 2025-26 campaign. Over 130 different activities and events have been funded as a result of this grant. The grant will continue for 2026-27.
    • Places to Go and Things to Do was voted the top youth issue in the Make you Mark survey in March 2025. Devon Youth Council presented the findings of their research on this campaign  to County Councillors at their November Youth Voice Saturday and will continue working in co-production groups on the top issues.
    • As part of the Places to Go Things to Do campaign, the DCC Communities team have provided a grant fund of £160,000 to fund voluntary youth projects across Devon. Members of the Devon Youth Council have met weekly since September to assess the applications. Over 100 youth projects have received funding.
    • The Youth Participation team, PAs, voluntary organisations and charities worked together to organise several Care Leaver-month outings, to put on 3 Christmas meals and to provide Christmas gift hampers for Care Leavers.
    • Our Lifelong Links project recognises the positive impact of long-term trusted relationships for care-experienced young people on wellbeing and future relationships. Our Young Care-experienced Lead will be giving a presentation on Lifelong Links to PAs soon so that as many of you as possible can access this opportunity. Lifelong links is growing in its impact. It received 25 referrals in 2023-24 and 73 referrals 2024-25. Of these, many young people have been re-connected with people who are important to them.
    • In direct response to their research in special schools and on Short Breaks, the Champions for Change group have worked with the Commissioning Team, the Libraries and Active Devon to create some accessible leaflets on some of our most wheelchair friendly outdoor spaces in Devon so that disabled young people can access the countryside with confidence.
    • We celebrated the 2025 Ramadan period with our young asylum seekers by inviting them to an Iftar meal and sharing this special event with them. We repeated this celebration in 2026.
    • The Care Leaver Hub has been set up in Exeter YES centre as a meeting place for young people with their PAs.
    • An online Neurodiversity Hub has been developed to provide resources to support to children and young people of all ages who are neurodivergent and their families.
    • We developed a celebration and practice Week around celebrating and promoting children in care and care leavers. “Love our Children Week” took place for the first time in summer 2025 and was so important as staff were able to dedicate a week focusing on the successes and challenges of children in and leaving our care and also to do some valuable training. It ended with the annual awards night, which is always a huge celebration.
    • We have worked with some of you to develop a Welcome information pack and leaflet for Young Asylum seekers. This was officially launched in January 2025.
    • We want to take every opportunity to celebrate your achievements as care-experienced young people, so we have increased our financial incentive when you take exams to include Functional Skills.
    • In order to raise awareness and understanding of care-experience, we have supported some of you to deliver Total Respect Training to teams in Children’s Services. This has made a really good impression and led to changes and improvements across the service.
  • What we’re doing
    • Our Young Carer trips and activities are tailored for Young Carers of a similar age, with the aim for them to connect with other Young Carers as well as having a break from their caring role. These will restart in July.
    • Devon Youth Council are working with the Devon Connect team to make a county-wide Youth Directory so that all young people in Devon can find out what’s on.
    • We are working closely with Torbay Council, bus operators and Devon Disability Together who have produced a bespoke training package for bus drivers. We hope that the programme of rolling this out across Devon will start in September.
    • DCC has allocated £500k for 2026/27 to improve transport access for young people who are not in education or employment – options are being worked on at the moment.
    • We are designing a microsite to build a community of Ethnically diverse, Multilingual and Travellers co-ordinators/ambassadors in our Devon schools.
    • We are designing cultural awareness workshops for Devon schools’ children.
    • Transport barriers, especially rural transport, has been noted in Youth Justice Advisory group discussions, especially around attending appointments or activities. This will be shared by Devon Youth Council in the work they are doing with Stagecoach and the Devon County Council transport team.
    • Devon Youth Council and Champions for Change have presented suggestions to Stagecoach and Devon County Transport leads, based on their research, and are working with them to try to co-produce some improvements for young people’s experiences of bus travel.
    • Young people who are part of the Network for Change are working with transport managers to improve accessibility of transport options for young people with SEND.
    • We have started a project exploring how the belongings of children in care and care leavers are stored and looked after throughout care as this is something that has been raised to us as an issue through the Total Respect Training. In October 2025, we went through and re-organised our sites in Exeter and in North Devon. We still need to complete this work at our South Devon site.
    • Devon Youth Council have started 3 co-production groups as a result of our Youth Voice Saturday:
      1. Promoting a culture of inclusion and creating safe youth spaces in our towns;
      2. Affordable and accessible transport options for young people; 3.Creating a youth directory of all youth events and activities in Devon. Young people and lead decision makers are working together to see if there are any creative solutions to these issues.

Supporting care experienced parents

🎯 If we are care-experienced and wanting to start a family, it is important that you provide us with stability and trauma-informed support at every stage.

  • What we’ve done
    • Avocados Advocacy in partnership with Devon County Council Participation team have started a Parent of Little Ones group in Exeter for care-experienced parents.
    • The updated Local Offer now has a financial offer those who are expecting or who are new parents.
  • What we’re doing
    • Strong Start, a six-weekly programme for pregnant young people in care and care-experienced young people under 25, will start on 2nd July 2026. It is a safe, supportive and judgement free space to help you build confidence, learn new skills and connect with other young parents.
    • The Designated Nurses are working with Avocados Impact to establish baby bundles for new care experienced parents and their babies.
    • Care-experience is a now a priority issue for developing trauma aware maternity services.
    • We have started a working group to look at the issues you have raised as care-experienced or vulnerable parents so that we can continue to improve the support that is given to you so that you can be the best parents possible.

Our rights and our voices

🎯 All of us should have clear access to our rights in any situation, know how to make ourselves heard and feel confident in our ability to influence change. 

  • What we’ve done
    • Communication passports are now available for any young people accessing health provisions. ​ These promote a neuro-affirmative approach and are respectful of your identity
    • Care Act advocacy is available for young people from the age of 16 through ‘Avocados Impact’, supporting you with understanding and having a voice within the Care Act assessments.​
    • Young people in care created a staff training video about how important it is for foster carers and social workers to communicate well and work together effectively.
    • Devon Youth Council members met with Community Transport volunteers to discuss creative solutions for young people who live in isolated rural areas.
    • YJA members attended the Youth Justice Leaders Conference in March which amplified children and young people’s voices nationally.
    • The Department of Education and other partners have listened to and learnt from the Echo Network model – our peer support and voice group for Devon County Council care-experienced apprentices.
    • Devon Youth Council have appointed three county councillors as ‘Youth Champions’. They will make sure that youth voice is heard in all their meetings and will provide support where needed to get action!
    • Devon Youth Council took part in a workshop led by the DCC Lead Member for Finance so that they can better understand how DCC manages budgets. This will help them to be more involved in budget decisions in 2026.
    • The youth participation strategy for Children’s Services is complete. It was co-designed with young people, and all staff are being trained so that they listen to young people in a meaningful and appropriate way. This has been welcomed and adopted across all Children’ Services teams with a commitment to include young people’s views and priorities at all levels of operation and management.
    • Young people from Network for Change have attended workshops and a major conference where they helped form the new Four Cornerstones approach to SEND support and oversight. This will embed a restorative and relational culture in all SEND provision and management and ensure youth voice is central.
    • The Youth Justice team have started a Youth Participation group to ensure that young people can have their voices heard in how the service is delivered and developed.
    • Youth council members met with Councillor James Buczkowski and senior managers to influence DCC’s strategic plan and to make sure that youth priorities are included.  Hearing and responding to youth views is a top priority in the plan.
    • Young people from across our youth councils have created a training video on the use of language and jargon for Children Services staff.  This was played at a conference for social care staff and was well received.
    • We are seeking the views and experiences of 4-11 year olds in care through the Bright Spots Survey in January/February 2025. The Bright Spots survey results for 4-11 year olds in care were shared with staff at Love our Children Week and an action plan will now be created to address the top issues.
    • We worked with children and young people to update our Promise to Children in Care. The new Promise for Children in Care has been launched at Love our Children Week in July 2025. It is based on SUSU research with Devon children and young people in our care.
    • Members of the Devon Youth Council met with the My Life My Say group to help form the National Youth Strategy by representing the views of Devon young people.
    • The Devon Youth Council have completed the Make your Mark survey across Devon. Over 7,000 young people responded and we have established our top issue for 2025.
    • We have created a new section of the SEND Local Offer focusing on Health and Wellbeing support available.
    • We have developed and trialled a more youth-friendly, jargon-free assessment document for Children in Care.
    • We have created this action tracker so that anyone who is interested can see the main issues raised by young people in Devon through the Participation Team and the actions that are taking place to address them.
    • We have updated our complaints process so that it is more accessible for young people and so that you know how to feedback any concerns you may have safely and easily.
  • What we’re doing
    • The Stand up Speak up (SUSU) council for care-experienced young people is recruiting new young volunteers into the groups that deliver Total Respect training, Skills to Foster assessment, as well as a new group for Young Commissioners so that care-experience is properly understood by all staff including housing workers and carers.
    • The new 16+ model of supported housing includes regular feedback loops from young people into the contract and each home will have clear information on how to raise concerns or compliments direct to the commissioning team.
    • Young people from Network for Change are working with the Director of the SEND Improvement Board to make sure the strategies and approach are right for young people.
    • An online resource for young people with SEND as they transition into adulthood is being tested by young people from Pathfield School.