Closing the loop: Listening, responding and learning from Bright Spots
As newly published research from the Bright Spots programme shows what matters to children in care and care leavers’ wellbeing in Scotland, and how best to support them, Carmen Benton, Participation and Engagement Officer (care experienced young people), Aberdeen City Council, explains what a feedback loop looks like and means in action.
When we shared Aberdeen’s Bright Spots findings with a care experienced young person, he responded within hours by writing a rap. His words cut through the statistics and brought us back to the lives behind them:
“Yo, I’m speakin' for the ones that the system forgot, Care-experienced, they resilient, but they livin' with a lot... This ain't just stats, it’s real lives in the balance… ”
He looked beyond the data to the lived experiences of our children and young people. His reminder — “we gotta listen close, can’t just leave it unsaid” — got to the crux of the matter and challenged us to do more than listen.
We can ask children and young people what they think, then send an email, publish a report, or update a website.
But if a child or young person takes the time to tell us something, do they know what happened next?
That question continues to shape our learning from Bright Spots in Aberdeen.
Listening and closing the feedback loop
When a child or young person completes a survey, their response can quickly become data, and translate into meetings, and plans. This risks them becoming abstract. Our challenge is to show that we have heard them and that their views are shaping action.
Bright Spots brought together the experiences and views of our children and young people. Listening created a responsibility: to explain to them what would happen next.
Finding a different way to communicate
We wanted our children and young people to see how their views have influenced action. To do this, we created youth-friendly visual and digital resources, including ‘The Loop’, our digital magazine for care experienced children and young people, and a series of ‘You Said, We Did’ posters.
These resources show what we heard, what is changing, and how children and young people’s voice and views are making a difference. These act also as practical tools helping workers and corporate parents have conversations with young people about how their views are shaping change.
We have received a lot of positive feedback on these materials from young people, our workforce, and corporate parents, reinforcing their value.
For us, the principle is simple:
You told us this mattered.
We listened.
This is what is happening as a result.
Closing the loop does not always mean saying, “We did exactly what you asked”. Real change is rarely that straightforward. Sometimes the honest response is, “We heard you. This is what we can do,” or “This will take longer, but this is where we are”. Good participation includes being open about those limits and timescales.
Children and young people deserve honesty.
From communication to action
Children and young people’s feedback through Bright Spots needs to shape priorities and decisions, so we linked it to our refreshed Corporate Parenting Plan which sets out what we will do to support all our children. Publishing the Plan for everyone in the same accessible digital magazine style as The Loop helped connect our children and young people’s messages with corporate parenting commitments.
The three resources have distinct, connected roles: ‘The Loop’ makes information accessible; ‘You Said, We Did’ shows response; and the Corporate Parenting Plan turns what children and young people told us into commitments that corporate parents are responsible for delivering.
Together, they help colleagues connect young people’s messages with their own practice, because closing the feedback loop belongs to all of us.
But communication alone is not enough.
Children and young people told us how much relationships with workers matter to them. We were particularly proud to hear this, and it strengthened our determination to improve and sustain those relationships. Involving young people in our recruitment programme became one way we responded, helping us appoint staff who understand the importance of trusted relationships and the qualities young people value.
And this is also shaping our workforce. When candidates are interviewed by young people, potential new staff see that connection, commitment, and trust are central to how we work. Involving young people helps us appoint staff who can build relationships young people told us they value. It supports the retention of people who understand what young people need. For us in Aberdeen, one of the biggest changes has been seeing young people recognised not simply as participants in recruitment, but as decision makers whose judgement and experience matter.
What we in Aberdeen now ask ourselves is: What are children and young people telling us, and what must change in our practice as a result?
Reaching beyond the voices we already hear
Closing the feedback loop also means asking ourselves whose voices are included. If we rely only on surveys, meetings or established groups, we risk repeatedly hearing from the same young people while others remain excluded.
Children and young people may face barriers linked to communication needs, digital access, trust, previous experiences, or meeting formats. Offering different, accessible ways to participate gives more children and young people a genuine opportunity to be heard.
Is the loop ever closed?
These lessons have changed how we in Aberdeen think about closing the loop. The phrase can make participation sound as though it has an ending. In Aberdeen, we are sure it never really does.
We listen.
We communicate.
We act.
We go back and explain what has happened.
And then we listen again.
Bright Spots has reinforced that good communication is not about broadcasting information. It depends on connection, relationships, honesty, and action. We will not always get it right, but if we want our children and young people to influence the services and systems around them, we must keep the conversation going.
Asking “What do you think?” matters.
But what follows matters even more:
“We have heard what children and young people are telling us. What will we do—and how will we let them know?”
As the young person’s rap reminds us, this is where listening must lead: “But it’s time we step up and help brighten their life.”
'You Said, We Did' poster - Social Worker Continuity and Trust
'You Said, We Did' poster - Support from Youth Team
The views expressed in this blog post are those of the author/s and may not represent the views or opinions of CELCIS or our funders.
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