Child and Youth Participation Award

When to Apply

Applications are open from 1st March to 1st May.

Who can apply

Tusla services or Tusla funded services can apply including those whose application has been made possible by seed funding.

To apply you must:

Complete the application form and return it to your regional Participation officer.
Ensure that your application can demonstrate a full iteration of the four quadrants of the Lundy Model.
Be open to a verification visit from a regional Participation officer to your service to meet with the children and young people.

The Child and Youth Participation Awards Journey

The Application Form

The application form is online.

You can fill the form in online and email it to the Participation Officer.

There are four criteria for assessing applications. These are:

Space: Children have a space to express their views. ‘Space’ includes physical space as well as enough information, time, and support for all children to take part. A good space will allow the children to feel safe and comfortable in telling you what they want, need, feel, and think.
Voice: Children must have the chance to give their views on decisions that affect them if they want to, however small or big these decisions are. Children must be given a choice about what they want to express their views on and how they want to do this. Adults should support this.
Audience: Children’s views must be listened to and considered. The adults listening should tell them what they will do with their views. Children should know who else will hear their views, how their views will be shared, and what might change.
Influence: Children must get feedback on what happened or changed because of their views and why. Projects and services must support the children to give feedback on how their views were heard and used.

You must show or evidence the participation work you are putting forward for the award. You can do this by sending:

Your typed/written application form that covers the four areas of Space, Voice, Audience, and Influence.
Self-selection of the checklist on the application form that you wish to be evaluated on. There is a choice of two checklists – The everyday spaces checklist or the Planning Checklist. You select on the application form.
Photographs of a completed project or participation experience.

Visit by the Participation Officer

If your application is shortlisted it will be evaluated by the evaluation committee. Applications that achieve scores of 16 and above from a total of 20 will be contacted by their regional participation officer. A verification visit by the participation officer to the service will confirm the experiences of child and youth participation with the children and young people themselves. It is important that the children and young people that use the service feel that their voices are truly heard and that they can take part in decision making.

What happens next?

The last meetings of the evaluation committee will be to review and rescore your application based on the experience of the visiting participation officer and the verification of the children and young people that attend the service. This committee is made up of people from Tusla, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, the Ombudsman for Children’s Office, Hub na nÓg, the Children’s Rights Alliance and An Gaisce – the President’s Award. The Committee carefully considers each one.

What the Award gives your service, organisation or project

The Award is valid for two years. Successful applicants will receive:

a digital copy of the Tusla Child and Youth Participation Awards logo for use on their documents/leaflets and letterheads for two-years
a vinyl window sticker for display at the entrance to the service showing certification.
a framed certificate of achievement for the service.
a letter of congratulations and a printed copy of their report by post.
a certificate of participation for all the children and young people that took part.
the opportunity to attend a national award ceremony along with other recipients of the award.
the opportunity to share their achievements over the following year on Tusla’s Child and Youth Participation newsletter, Tusla’s Newscast or in publications about best practice examples of child and youth participation.

After two years, services, organisations or projects can reapply for the Award.