Policy and Research
Children's Rights Impact Assessment
Children's Rights Impact Assessment: The SCCYP Model
25th Feb 2009
SCCYP has developed a model for carrying out children’s rights impact assessment to facilitate the review of law, policy and practice. In 2006 we published a step-by-step guide, 'Children’s Rights Impact Assessment: The SCCYP Model', which contains information on what assessments are, why they are necessary and how they should be carried out. The guide also contains a set of template forms for conducting assessments.Children’s rights impact assessments are a way of looking at decisions, policies or legislation and identifying and measuring their effect on children and young people and their rights. They allow the effect to be predicted, monitored and, if necessary, avoided or mitigated. In developing our assessment model, one of our goals has been to embed children’s rights in decision and policy making and, with this in mind, we will be encouraging decision and policy makers to carry out their own children’s rights impact assessments. Our model has been deliberately designed to be flexible in the hope that it can be used by others and adapted to suit their own needs.
The SCCYP model includes two types of assessment – an initial ‘screening’ assessment and a full impact assessment. To support ourselves and others in implementing this model, we have created screening and full impact assessment forms to enable the findings of the assessment process to be clearly evidenced.
At SCCYP, we are currently using the model in a number of ways. We are undertaking initial screenings and, where necessary, full impact assessments to predict the possible impact of proposed policies or legislation on children and young people’s rights. In some cases, initial screenings have been used to inform the Commissioner’s response to a consultation whilst in others, concrete recommendations have been put forward to avoid or mitigate a predicted negative impact. In addition, we have been using the model to help inform our response to some of our external enquiries.
Copies of our initial screenings and full impact assessments are available in the policy section on Children's Rights Impact Assessments and alongside selected Consultation Responses.
Further information:
To view the report click on ‘Document Download’ below.
If you would like to know more about this area of work, please contact Laura Paton (Laura.Paton@sccyp.org.uk) or Gillian Munro (Gillian.Munro@sccyp.org.uk).
Tel: 0131 558 3733
Document Download
Generic Initial Screening Form
Generic Full Impact Assessment Form
The SCCYP Model - Initial Screening Form
The SCCYP Model - Full Impact Assessment FormPrevious Page