Coronavirus (COVID-19) mental health transition and recovery plan - children and young people's mental health: CRWIA

2. What impact will your policy/measure have on children's rights?

Policy leads across the work streams of CAMHS Improvement and Eating Disorder Policy, Community Mental Health and Crisis Services, Perinatal and Early Years Mental Health, Children and Young People's Mental Health Improvement, Student Mental Health and Wellbeing and the Children and Young People's Mental Health and Wellbeing Joint Delivery Board agree that these policy development, both individually and together, will have an overall positive impact on children's rights.

It is not anticipated that this policy will have any negative impact on children's rights. The policy is underpinned by children's rights; therefore, it is assessed that the policy will have a positive impact on children's rights. For example:

Perinatal and Early Years Mental Health: Positive impact. This work meets Article 3 (best interests of the child), Article 5 (parental guidance and a child's evolving capacities), Article 6 (life, survival and development), Article 18 (parental responsibilities and state assistance), Article 31 (leisure, play and culture), Article 39 (recovery from trauma and reintegration). Additionally, it puts a specific focus on increasing awareness of infants' rights across Scotland.

Student Mental Health and Wellbeing: Positive Impact. This meets Article 3 (best interests of the child), Article 6 (life, survival and development), Article 18 (parental responsibilities and state assistance), and Article 39 (recovery from trauma and reintegration.

National Trauma Training Programme: Positive impact. The commitment to expanding the Programme will help to raise awareness of the impact of psychological trauma and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), to identify the earliest opportunities to prevent childhood adversity occurring and to ameliorate the negative impacts where such experiences have occurred, where possible, through trauma-informed approaches (since not all adversity can be prevented). GIRFEC provides the anchor for how we support and nurture our children and improve the way we respond in an integrated way to the needs of children and families. Action to address trauma and ACEs is fundamentally related to the work to progress children's rights in Scotland. In particular, the UNCRC Article 19 (protection from violence, abuse and neglect), Article 24 (right to possible best health), Article 34 (protection from sexual abuse and exploitation), and Article 39 (recovery from trauma and reintegration).