ABSTRACT
The voices of very young and maltreated children are often overlooked, misunderstood or absent in the minds of supporting adults. This case study provides examples of strategies used by a mental health team for under-fives in foster care to capture and respond to the voice of the very young child, and to support others in the care system to do so. We aim to illustrate how even very young children can contribute to planning and decision-making about their care. We describe the case of a young child, her birth mother and foster mother during a time of critical decision-making about where and with whom the child would live for the remainder of her childhood. We provide specific examples of how ‘learning the child’s language’, ‘taking time to listen’, ‘making meaning together’, ‘speaking the child’s language’ and ‘helping others to listen bravely’ all supported the process of the child sharing her ‘voice’, being heard, understood and responded to. We reflect that placing a child’s voice at the centre of systems and decision-making, using strategies such as those described, is key in supporting children who have experienced early adversity.
This case study aims to illustrate how, in a mental health team for under-fives in foster care, we support young children to have a voice. We will describe some methods we use to promote a systems-wide culture of listening and responding to children, and how this supports children to be heard and understood, enabling children to have a say in decision-making about their future.
