Middlesbrough Children in Care Council (CICC) is made up of young people aged 14 to 21, from a wide range of backgrounds.

CICC are very passionate about sharing their experiences in order to help others and make a difference.

The Children in Care Council group has been running since October 2010 and meets fortnightly.

CICC is a place where children and young people in care and living independently have their say on issues that are important to them, develop skills and build friendships.

We meet on a fortnightly basis to discuss important issues around children in care. We want to make changes to the lives of children in care, to help them to have happy experiences, by:

• listening to children's opinions and reporting them back
• trying to solve the main problems
• involving other professionals to help us make these improvements
• enjoying ourselves
• keeping to the promise of the Middlesbrough Pledge

• The CICC has undertaken an extensive training programme, involving team work, communication, negotiation and presentation skills, as well as research techniques
• We started by researching and prioritising important issues around children in care and care leavers
• From our research we developed a 'diamond nine' which highlighted the most important issues for young people
• We've been developing our logo and information, and are currently making a video to tell young people all about us
• We've attended regional and national meetings to discuss and share information about ideas and best practice with other CICCs
• We've been involved in the development of a young persons' health passport
• We've consulted with care leavers in a recent participation event
• We've been working with the foster service to ensure when young people come into care they have young people-friendly information leaflets

We've thought about this a lot and created a CICC communication plan that has two parts. The first is how we're going to talk to children in care, and the second is how we're going to talk to and work with professionals.

How we will talk to children in care:

• devise questionnaires and find out the views of children and young people in care, and take them to corporate parents who can make a difference

How we will talk to adults:

• talk to and meet with the corporate parenting board throughout the year
• meet up with a range of key people such as IROs, foster carers and social workers

We want:

• you to be able to understand why we are trying to help children and young people in care
• you to be able to understand that the work we do is important and is worthwhile
• to get feedback and information from you that will help us to help children and young people in care
• to be able to build on relationships with trust and honesty
• children and young people to know about the Children in Care Council from their IROs when they have a review

We want:

• you to be able to understand why we are trying to help children and young people
• you to be able to understand that the work we do is important and is worthwhile
• to get feedback and information from you that will help us to help children and young people in care
• to be able to build on relationships with trust and honesty
• you to be more pro-active and support a young person coming to the CICC
• you to encourage young people to share their views with us

We want:

• you to be able to understand why we are trying to help children and young people
• you to be able to understand that the work we do is important and is worthwhile
• to get feedback and information from you that will help us to help children and young people in care
• to be able to build on relationships with trust and honesty
• you to be able to advertise and promote the work of the CICC as a voice for children in care
• you to encourage young people to share their views with us

We want:

• you to understand what CICC is trying to achieve
• you to meet regularly with us
• you to listen to our concerns
• you to accept you may be challenged by us
• to be able to build a good working relationship with trust and honesty
• you to make a difference
• you to take action and feed back to us
• you to improve the lives of children in care and care leavers

Email: hellocicc@middlesbrough.gov.uk

Or ask your social worker/carer.