“Behind Every Policy Is a Child’s Life”: Why Care Systems Must Involve Young People

03.08.2026

Pictured: Lumos staff and youth advocates visit the offices of UNICEF in Geneva.

Author: Jade Blake, Lumos Senior Advisor, Participation of People with Lived Experience.

I’ve worked at Lumos for over six months, and during this time I’ve seen first-hand the commitment to meaningfully engage children and young people to ensure their input can help shape better care systems for future generations. 

Ahead of International Youth Day, I’m reminded of how Lumos involves young people from the outset, creating safe, inclusive spaces where they can participate in ways that work for them. Their views are shared with those who can drive change, and we close the feedback loop by explaining to the young people what happened as a result. Even when not every idea can be taken forward, being transparent helps build trust and recognises young people as partners in creating change, not just consultees. 

Pictured: Jade Blake, Lumos Senior Advisor, Participation of People with Lived Experience.

Lumos Youth Advisory Boards 

As part of my role as Lumos Senior Advisor, Participation of People with Lived Experience, I co-ordinate the Lumos Youth Advisory Boards. The group consists of young people with lived experience of the care and protection system in each country we operate, who work in partnership with us to shape our policies, services, and advocacy.

Children and young people join their country’s board because they want to make a difference. Often drawing on their own experiences of being excluded from decisions that affect them, they use their insights to influence change and improve outcomes for others. The Boards also provide a supportive space to connect with peers, build confidence and develop new skills. Most importantly, they help young people see that their voices matter and that their experiences can contribute to creating better care systems for future generations.

Diverse Approaches to Participation 

We use a range of approaches to involve children and young people, because meaningful participation is never one-size-fits-all.

Alongside our Youth Advisory Boards, we engage young people through consultations, workshops, co-design, advocacy, training, storytelling and opportunities to speak directly with decision-makers. Whatever the method, our focus is on ensuring participation is safe, inclusive, purposeful and well supported.

Pictured: Lumos attends the Human Rights Council’s Annual Day on the Rights of the Child in Geneva with youth advocates.

The Power of Lived Experience in Care Reform

Care reform is about changing systems that shape children’s lives, relationships and futures, so children and young people with lived experience must be part of that change.

Their insights provide a unique understanding of what works, what causes harm and what needs to improve to help children grow up safely in families and communities. Meaningful participation also helps shift power, recognising children and young people as rights-holders and experts in their own lives, not simply recipients of adult-designed services.

A young person’s lived experience can be an extremely powerful way to change the way adults in the room understand an issue. I have seen young people explain, in their own words, what family separation or institutional care meant for them – and you can feel the conversation shift. Young people often know very clearly what support could have helped prevent family separation, and they can also explain what good-quality alternative care should look like when it is not possible for a child to live with their family. It becomes much harder for decision-makers to talk about systems in abstract terms when they are hearing directly from someone affected by those systems. Those moments matter because they bring urgency, humanity and clarity to care reform. They remind us that behind every policy choice is a child’s life, relationships and future.

I feel privileged to work alongside young people who bring such honesty, courage and insight to difficult conversations about care reform. Their commitment to improving things for other children is incredibly powerful. This work can be complex, but what keeps me going is seeing participation move from a principle into practice – young people gaining confidence, organisations making better decisions, and systems beginning to change because the people most affected have helped shape the solution.

Find out more on how we involve young people across every country we work.