Highland volunteers sought for children’s hearings
Scotland’s Children’s Hearings System is seeking new volunteer panel members to make decisions in the interests of infants, children and young people in the Highlands.
Children’s Hearings Scotland (CHS), the public body that recruits, trains and supports panel members who sit at children’s hearings, is looking for people who want to make a positive impact on children’s lives.
CHS’s recruitment campaign seeks volunteers to join more than 2000 existing volunteers who serve across the country. In the past year more than 900 hearings took place in Highland, which is one of the local authority areas where CHS is seeking to increase its capacity.
Applications to become a panel member opened on Monday and close on Monday, October 6. Anyone interested can find out more and apply at the CHS website, where there are further details of online information sessions explaining more about the role.
Children’s hearings are legal meetings set up because there are concerns about the wellbeing or care of an infant, child or young person. At each hearing, three panel members make legal decisions with and for the infant, child or young person. The role includes making sure that the infant, child or young person is at the heart of the decisions made.
All volunteers receive comprehensive training before sitting on their first panel and are supported by CHS experts, including local volunteer area ssupport teams, throughout their time as a volunteer. Appointments are for a three-year term initially.
Young people with lived experience of the hearings system helped to shape the recruitment campaign, which focuses on the qualities young people want to see in panel members.
Elliot Jackson, national convener of CHS, said: ‘If you want to play a significant role in supporting children, young people and their families who need help in your local community, then we want to hear from you.
‘We need new panel members who have compassion and empathy, and who are really good at listening to the views of children and young people. If this is you, then I encourage you to apply to join our wonderful Panel and help Scotland’s children to grow up loved, safe and respected so that they realise their full potential.’