Care Leavers & Maslows Hierarchy of Needs
20.05.2026
Hearing a Young Person’s Voice: Key Takeaways from Our May Webinar
Led by Ann-Marie Born, our latest webinar tackled one of the most important — and most challenging — parts of working in residential care and supported accommodation: truly hearing what young people are telling you, even when they’re not using words.
Whether you’re a registered manager setting the tone for your team, a support worker on shift, or a responsible individual ensuring your service meets its obligations, this one is for you.
What Does Legislation Actually Require?
It’s easy to talk about listening to young people in abstract terms. But the Children’s Homes Quality Standards and the Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations are clear and specific about what’s expected.
The Quality Standards define positive relationships as those built on consistency and unconditional positive regard — where carers actively understand and respond to a young person’s lived experience of care. It’s not just about being kind. It’s about being present, informed, and responsive.
On listening specifically, the Standards state that staff have a responsibility to observe, notice and respond — it is not the sole responsibility of the young person to ‘tell’. That’s a significant shift in how we think about communication. Young people may express their feelings through behaviour, non-verbally, or in ways shaped by disability or past trauma. It’s on us to tune in.
For supported accommodation providers, the obligations run parallel. Staff must build trusting relationships that give them real insight into the risks each young person faces, support young people to express themselves as individuals, and ensure young people can see the results of their views being listened to and acted upon. Consultation isn’t a tick-box exercise — it should visibly shape the quality of your service.
It’s Not What You Ask — It’s How You Ask
A central theme of the webinar was moving away from the instinct to interrogate and towards the skill of genuine connection. Firing off a list of questions — who, what, where, when — can feel controlling and often leads to less honest responses, not more.
The approach that actually works? Being the kind of worker whose young person chooses to share. Young people need to know they can count on you to look out for them — that you’re a safety net, not a surveillance system. When they trust that, they talk.
Seven Communication Strategies Worth Embedding in Your Practice
Ann-Marie walked through seven practical strategies that every member of your team can start using immediately. Here’s a summary:
1. Control Your Reactions
When staff react strongly to what a young person shares, the young person stops sharing. Learning to listen without visible alarm or judgement keeps the door open. Your reaction — or your ability to hold back a reaction — teaches young people whether it’s safe to talk to you.
2. Be a Good Listener
Real listening means giving full, undivided attention and reflecting back what you’ve heard. Try phrases like “I think I heard you say…” or “Would I be correct to think you meant…” This positions you as a sounding board, not an authority figure passing judgement. When staff truly listen, they’re also better equipped to spot risk and know when a young person is ready to stretch their boundaries.
3. React Little
Linked to the above — when workers jump to judgement, accusation, or problem-solving, young people shut down. Non-reaction is a skill. Staying calm and listening first keeps communication going.
4. Turn Off the ‘Parent Alarm’
We do this work because we care. But that care can tip into jumping to rescue or control before a young person has even finished their sentence. “I met this girl…” doesn’t have to immediately trigger a safeguarding response — it could be the start of a really important conversation about relationships. Recognise the alarm, and consciously choose not to sound it.
5. Don’t Catastrophise
When everything becomes a crisis, young people stop bringing things to us. If a young person senses that sharing a worry will result in panic and drama, they’ll manage it alone instead. Stay measured. Not every concern requires immediate escalation.
6. Avoid Over-Empathising
Taking on a young person’s pain as your own can feel supportive, but it often backfires. If a worker takes sides in a friendship dispute and the young person reconciles the next day, they may feel too embarrassed to mention it — and the worker loses insight into what’s actually happening in their life. Empathy is essential; absorption is not helpful.
7. Offer Constructive Feedback
Young people are highly attuned to criticism, even subtle forms of it. Unintentionally minimising, belittling, or steering young people towards your own interests and preferences closes down communication. When feedback is genuinely about helping a young person shape their own thinking — building their resilience and judgment — they’ll come back for more of it.
A Question Worth Sitting With
The webinar closed with a reflective prompt for everyone in the room: Which of these communication approaches have you used? Did you realise the impact it may have had? And what’s one small thing you’re taking back into your practice?
As managers and leaders, it’s worth asking the same of your teams — not as a criticism, but as part of building a culture where young people’s voices are genuinely heard.
How Mentor Supports This in Practice
The quality standards are clear that young people must be consulted regularly, that their views should visibly influence how your service is run, and that records of this must be maintained. Mentor helps residential homes and supported accommodation providers evidence exactly that — keeping records of young people’s views, flagging patterns, and supporting managers to demonstrate compliance with confidence.
If you’d like to see how Mentor can support your team to put these communication principles into practice, get in touch with us today.
