Listening to the children

We have decided to have a monthly group in which a representative from each group home will participate and present all the concerns of each of the houses.  I held the first one this week.  It was so fun for me, and I think for the children.  I had the three younger homes in the first hour and the three older homes in the second hour.
We began with an organizational chart so the children could see how things get done in an agency.  I also presented a list of all the organizations that have something to say about how we conduct our business.
We talked about things we can change and things we cannot.  They had good ideas about what changes we can have control of and which things would need legislative decisions to change.
The really terrific thing about a group like this is that together with the children we can do a better job of caring and helping them.  In order for them to be successful they need to have experience in making responsible choices regarding their environment.  We talked about the fact that each one person represented the 6 children from their home, and everything they bring to the meeting has to be something that will be helpful and represent all.