Fiona Daly & Dawn Ryan
UCC
28 th October 2011

EPIC was formerly the Irish Association of
Young People in Care (IAYPIC)
EPIC is an independent organisation that advocates at a local and national level for the rights of young people in care and young people who have care experience

• Children’s Rights & Participation
Service
• Aftercare Advocacy & Support Service
• Research
• National Advocacy & Policy

• Research aims of EPIC study
• Participatory research methods
• How care leavers are involved in the study
• A care leaver’s perspective
• Conclusions – important considerations for involving peer researchers

• Main research question - young people’s experience of taking part in their care review meetings
• Aim to interview 20 young people aged 15-17
(10 in residential care and 10 in foster care)
• Identify ways to promote young people’s meaningful participation in the care review process
• Report for practitioners and policymakers

• Fairly new approach to doing research
• Doing research with young people rather than on them
(Kirby, 2000)
• Young people with care experience are involved in carrying out research – goes beyond being a participant
• Acknowledges that young people are experts in their own lives and experiences
• Therefore, they should help to define the research questions and be involved in interpreting the findings

Advantages
• Can improve the quality of the information, e.g. research participant may open up more to a peer researcher
• Possible benefits for peer researchers, e.g. develop research skills, enhance self-esteem.
Potential limitations
• May take on the role of a traditional researcher
• May bias responses from participants – tell them what they think peer researchers want to hear?
• Maintaining young people’s involvement as peer researchers, e.g. interest, on-going commitment etc.

Care leavers are involved at 3 particular stages of the research:
1. Inform research questions - attending preliminary focus groups to discuss topics for inquiry, how research should be done etc.
2. Data collection - carry out some interviews with young people (after completing training)
3. Data analysis - review and discuss the initial research findings (not yet carried out)

• 2 focus groups held with care leavers before research started (Summer 2010)
• 6 care leavers took part in both groups
(age 20-28)
• Accessed through the EPIC Aftercare Support Worker
• Twin aims:
(1) Obtain young people’s views and feed them into the research plan where possible
(2) Recruit peer researchers

Questions in focus group How information was used for research study
Identify the key characteristics of
‘good’ care reviews
Background information
Research questions What do we need to know about young people’s experience?
How should young people be asked about their care experiences?
Should care leavers be involved in the research and how?
Methods
Methods
Who should know about the results and in what ways?
Dissemination

Facilitated training sessions during Summer 2010
• Introduction to research methods
• Background to the research study, e.g. study aims, methods, how data will be used
• Ethical considerations, e.g. child protection, confidentiality, role of the researcher
• Interview techniques involving role play
• Feedback on training sessions
4 care leavers completed training (6 started)
2 young people selected for carrying out interviews

• 9 interviews have been carried out so far
• 6 with young people in residential care and 3 with young people in foster care
• 6 females and 3 males
• Peer researcher has done 4 interviews so far
• Aim to recruit more young people in foster care – accessing young people under the age of 18 years can be difficult due to consent issues

• All but one young person attended their last care review meeting
• Desire to hear what was being said and decisions made
• Most felt they could say what they wanted and that they were listened to at the meeting
• However, some young people wanted other family members present which did not happen
• Some questions on the review form were not relevant or seen as ‘childish’
• Verbal feedback but no written feedback

• Reasons for getting involved
• Initial feelings and expectations
• Personal experience of interviewing young people for the study
• Response from young people
• Challenges along the way
• Why involve peer researchers?
• What have I learnt?

• Garda clearance for peer researchers
• Safety protocol for peer researchers, e.g. personal safety before, during and after interviews, check in with co-ordinator
• Safety protocol for research participants – steps to take in light of a disclosure, what to do in case a young person gets upset
• Young people need on-going support and supervision, e.g. de-briefing session after interview
• Devise a training programme for peer researchers study aims, interview skills, confidentiality

• Ensure that peer researchers do not know young people to be interviewed
• Consider young people’s maturity level, skills and their interests
• Acknowledge the time and contribution given by peer researchers – payment?
• Build extra time into the research plan when involving peer researchers

EPIC
7 Red Cow Lane,
Smithfield,
Dublin 7
Phone: 01-8727661
E-mail: info@epiconline.ie
www.epiconline.ie