Participation & Inclusion Rights
Participation & Inclusion Rights
Voice, Choice, Dignity
Children and young people are not passive recipients of services. They are rights holders with the legal and moral right to understand what is happening to them, to express their views, and to have those views taken seriously in decisions about their lives.
In British Columbia, this right is protected in law through the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, provincial legislation, and Indigenous legal traditions that recognize children as belonging within families, Nations, and communities. Yet in practice, many young people experience systems that speak about them rather than with them, make decisions without their consent, and move them through powerful institutions without meaningful explanation or choice.
This loss of voice causes harm. When children do not know their rights or cannot access advocacy or legal support, they are more likely to be detained, over-medicalized, or separated from family instead of receiving the care they need. Participation and inclusion are not optional. They are essential to safety, dignity, and effective care. RCY’s work ensures that children and youth are seen, heard, and respected wherever decisions are being made about their lives.
I just felt so written off like just another Aboriginal youth. … Now I’m in my 20s I’m like ‘Wow! I have a voice! I’m powerful!
– Adrianna, from the RCY Report “Detained”
What We're Hearing
Young people consistently tell RCY that they feel confused, afraid, and shut out when they enter systems that are supposed to help them. Many do not know they have the right to legal counsel, a second medical opinion, or to challenge decisions made about their bodies, freedom, or care.
Indigenous young people are especially affected. Many are caught between colonial systems and their Nations’ own laws and ways of caring for children, creating gaps where no one is clearly accountable for protecting their rights.
Let’s be clear: young people have the right to be who they are and to thrive
– Dr. Jennifer Charlesworth,
Representative for Children and Youth
What We're Doing
RCY protects children’s and youth’s rights to participation, information, and choice across systems like mental health, child welfare, education, and justice. This includes ensuring young people understand their rights, can speak for themselves, and are supported to make decisions about their own lives.
We have taken a close look at young people’s experiences of being detained, placed, or treated without being informed, without meaningful consent, or without being heard. We launched work on child rights and participation, resulting in the report Detained, which looked at involuntary detention of young people under the Mental Health Act.
Through a collaboration with the Society for Children and Youth we are building awareness and understanding of children’s capacity and rights to participate in important health, mental health, family law and child welfare decisions about their lives – because being heard and valued supports long term well-being.
By the Numbers
In 2024/25, there were
involuntary detentions of children and youth under 19.
That is an under-estimate of the actual numbers because there were an additional 1987 “voluntary” admissions, many of which would be section 20 admissions of under 16’s with the consent of a parent but without the consent of the youth.
– Ministry of Health
Ministry of Health data on involuntary mental health hospitalizations of children and youth show that, over a five-year period 2013/14 to 2017/18,
of stays were for primary diagnoses of mood or “neurotic disorders”.
– Ministry of Health, extract of category of diagnosis by International Classification of Disease codes
In the decade between 2008/09 and 2017/18, involuntary hospitalizations under the Mental Health Act, as reflected in the number of discharges for all ages (children and adults), increased from 13,005 to
– RCY Report, “Detained”
Reports and Resources
Capacity, 2024
This research project explores child capacity in a participatory context in legal and administrative proceedings in Canada with a focus on British Columbia in the areas of family law; child welfare and adoptions; mental health and involuntary civil detention; and decisions about health care.
The Right to Thrive, 2023
The Right to Thrive (2023), calls on government to protect and support Two Spirit and gender-diverse young people so they can live free from discrimination and stigma.
Detained, 2021
Detained (2021), reveals how rising involuntary detentions are stripping young people of rights and dignity and calls for urgent reforms to make detention a true last resort.
Interested in learning more about our work?
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