Tackling child poverty delivery plan 2022-2026 - annex 5: impact of policies on child poverty

Getting It Right For Every Child (GIRFEC)

GIRFEC is the national, well-established approach to improving outcomes for babies, children, young people, and families. The shared model and language enables children, young people, families, and practitioners to work across services so that support is well-planned, joined-up and streamlined, helping to prevent or mitigate childhood adversity and trauma.

• Costs of living

Enhanced life chances (e.g. health, wellbeing, capabilities, longer term goals)

Potential size of impact

GIRFEC is universal and targeted in design and approach. All children, young people and families, where need has been identified, through assessment of wellbeing (based on SHANARRI indicators) are eligible for support.

Type of impact

In enabling the coordination of services, GIRFEC improves the wellbeing of families and mitigates childhood adversity and trauma with potential impact upon life chances.

Certainty of impact

It is difficult to identify specific causal impacts from this policy - which has wide application - however, we know that adverse childhood experiences can lead to physical and mental health problems in adulthood.

Priority families targeted by policy:

• Lone parents
• 3+ children
• Disabled
• Minority ethnic
• Baby < 1
• Mothers aged <25

GIRFEC is delivered through services and people who work with children, young people and families. A personalised child's plan should be put in place when support across multiple services is needed. The plan should explain what should improve for the child, the support that will be provided, the actions to be taken and why the plan has been created. This relies on the effective implementation of GIRFEC, which includes assessment of wellbeing and needs, supported by effective multi-agency working. Local authorities, health, and other service providers may create their own local guidelines within the overall GIRFEC approach; there is a risk of inconsistency in the implementation of GIRFEC.

Tracking progress

An Outcomes Framework for Children, Young People and Families is being developed which provides a holistic understanding of wellbeing, based on what children and families have told us matters, and rooted in GIRFEC and children's rights. The Framework also provides a consistent approach to demonstrate progress in improving outcomes at local and national levels, enhancing our understanding of the collective impact from a range of policies, services and frontline practice, including actions set out in this Delivery Plan.