Services for Young People youth councils for young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are enabling young people to have their voices heard
As part of Hertfordshire County Council’s commitment to listening to the voices of young people with SEND and involving them in shaping and improving services to meet their needs, Services for Young People (SfYP) has been running youth councils exclusively for young people with SEND in all districts of Hertfordshire since 2024.
Supported by professionally qualified SfYP Youth Workers, members of the youth councils have the opportunity to:
- Identify and explore issues important to them, participating in discussions and activities through which they learn new skills and increase their knowledge, confidence and self esteem
- Design and deliver local social action projects which make a difference in their communities
- Work with Hertfordshire County Council commissioners and organisations to co-produce services for young people with SEND in Hertfordshire, review existing services and give feedback on how they can be improved
- Hear back from the commissioners and organisations about what affect their input has had
- Meet with senior HCC leaders to contribute to strategic developments across the local authority that affect young people with SEND
- Meet with county and district councillors to showcase their achievements and learn more about civic participation
- Participate in regional events through the Voices of the East network to meet with other young people and develop their ideas and views on social issues
Autumn term consultations and co-productions
During the 2025 autumn term members of the youth councils:
- Contributed to the Hertfordshire Health and Wellbeing Survey for young people with SEND, reviewing the questions and co-producing the design of the survey
- Reviewed the Hertfordshire and West Essex SEND Mental Health Support Team’s materials and resources
- Continued co-producing the HCC youth vaping campaign ‘Vape Brain’
- Worked with Hertfordshire Police on community knife crime and personal safety campaigns
- Worked with transport providers to highlight issues in relation to public transport in Hertfordshire
- Reviewed the draft HCC Plan for Children and Young People 2026-31, which sets out our ambitions for improving outcomes for Hertfordshire’s children and young people, and co-produced the video to launch the final plan
- Reviewed SfYP’s SEND youth work outcome tool (MyStar)
- Worked with Hertfordshire based charity SPACE, which supports families of children and young people who are neurodivergent, on accessibility and neuro-affirming event planning