The Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration are working with Our Hearings, Our Voice to try and understand whether virtual hearings should remain part of the Children’s Hearings System. To do this, they are looking to speak to the following groups about their experience of attending virtual Hearings:
- Children and young people (aged 8-20),
- Parents
- Kinship carers
To take part in the study, you need to have attended either a virtual or hybrid Hearing since they were introduced in April 2020. Virtual Hearings are Hearings where all of the people taking part do so by using video-conferencing software, while hybrid Hearings are ones were some people attend the hearing in-person while others attend virtually. You do not need to have attended a Children’s Hearing in person to take part.
Participation in the study will involve taking part in either an individual or group interview lasting around 1 hour. During the discussion you will be asked about your experiences of going to virtual hearings and whether you think that the use of virtual hearings affected your rights and ability to participate within the Hearing. As part of this discussion, you will get to explore what things that helped you to take part in virtual hearings and what things acted as a barrier to you taking part. If you have been to a Hearing in-person, please think about how taken part in a Hearing using a video-link differs from taking part in person.
The information you share will be used to make recommendations about whether virtual Hearings continue to be offered as an option to children, young people and their families attending Hearings.
A shopping voucher worth £20 will be provided to children and young people, parents and kinship carers who participate within the study as a thank you for their time. Children and young people will be offered the opportunity to share their views using creative methods, and are welcome to bring a trusted adult with them if they would like additional support.
If you are interested in taking part, or would like to find out more information about how you can take part, please contact Dr Catherine Nixon on 07791953660 or Catherine.nixon@scra.gov.uk
