A central part of this approach is the establishment of the Lived Experience Youth Advisory Think Tank (LEYATT), an advisory body of young people with lived experience of the justice system. LEYATT will provide young people with a structured role in influencing RW’s programmes, policy, advocacy and organisational development, while also creating opportunities for leadership, skills development and wider sector engagement.
As part of this commitment Richtungswechsel is developing stronger organisational frameworks for ethical safe and fairly compensated lived experience participation, including clear approaches to safeguarding, recruitment, payment, accessibility, consent and accountability. This work is being developed in collaboration with partners and lived experience specialists, like Dwayne Antojado to ensure that participation is meaningful, non-tokenistic and grounded in good participatory practice.