Coronavirus (COVID-19): children, young people and families - evidence and intelligence report

Footnotes

a. CRWIAs have been published for the: Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020, Coronavirus (Scotland) (No.2) Act 2020 and the Education (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Coronavirus) (Scotland) Regulations 2020. An initial impact assessment was undertaken as part of the Excellence and Equity during the COVID-19 Pandemic – a strategic framework for reopening schools, early learning and childcare provision in Scotland

b.. The Children's Parliament re-ran its survey 'How are you doing?' in May, when 3,698 children aged 8 to 14 took part. The survey looks at wellbeing across a number of domains including learning and activities; access to information, expressing opinions and experiencing rights; health; and family and friends. Respondents are also asked about their worries and what makes them feel good. The survey is continuing to run monthly to track trends. The survey is online but Children's Parliament staff assist children to complete the survey over the phone where their digital access is limited.

c.. The Scottish Youth Parliament, Youth Link and Young Scot published the findings of their online Lockdown Lowdown survey of young people (aged 11-25) in May. The survey was self-selecting, with 65% of respondents female, and over 50% from SIMD Quintiles 4 & 5 (least deprived).

d. April, this survey has been run each weekend from noon on Friday to midnight on Sunday. There have been a total of eight surveys completed. The survey also poses an open question to respondents which varies in topic from week to week. Across the eight weeks, topics have ranged from how young people feel that coronavirus has impacted their rights, what decisions should be taken around the re-opening of schools and how they are reacting to the easing of lockdown measures.

e. The current briefing compares the pre-lockdown period (6 January – 22 March) with the post lockdown period (April – May). Children and young people are also visiting the Childline website which offers a wide range of information, advice and resources.

f. All references to information from CELCIS throughout the document are taken from intelligence provided by CELCIS, based on an appraisal of information and feedback gathered through a range of direct work and support with services, and practice forums and networks with practitioners and managers.

g. Information gathered informally in April 2020 via Staf projects, Focus Groups and e-mail contact with member organisations. Also consultation with around 16 young people, mainly aged 16 to 26.

h. The Centre for Youth and Criminal Justice (CYCJ) at the University of Strathclyde conducted a short qualitative research project on the impact of COVID-19 on those involved in the youth justice system in Scotland to provide a snapshot of the views of children and young people - in contact with or with experience of youth justice services - and youth justice practitioners. The report captures the views of approximately 50 young people aged 12-25 which were mostly gathered by service providers and responses from 36 practitioners during the month of May.

i. A survey was undertaken with 3,105 parents of children under 18 in the UK who claim Universal Credit or Child Tax Credits, including 412 respondents in Scotland. This asked them about their financial experience during this crisis, including increased costs, debt, cutting back on essentials and other financial pressures. Economic modelling was also undertaken of low-income families' income loss.

j. Child Poverty Action Group in Scotland (CPAG) conducted surveys during May 2020 to gather the views of families in Scotland in order to understand their experiences of learning during lockdown, with a particular emphasis on the experiences of households living on a low income. They heard from 3200 parents and carers and 1000 children and young people across Scotland on topics like learning resources, replacement free school meals, support for wellbeing, financial advice and priorities for returning to school.

k. Children's Neighbourhoods Scotland (University of Glasgow) is undertaking research, in partnership with Policy Scotland and local authorities, to understand the impact of COVID-19 on families with children living in high poverty settings, and how third sector services and organisations are responding to it. Interviews were conducted with representatives in the public and third sector providing support to families across a range of services such as health, education and family support.

l. Family Fund Scotland provide grants to families on low incomes raising disabled or seriously ill children and young people. Family Fund issued two surveys on the impact of coronavirus to families with disabled or seriously ill children and young people across the UK. The first survey was undertaken between 27 March and 3 April 2020. The second was between 30 April and 4 May 2020.

m. Enquire is the Scottish advice service for additional support for learning. The Enquire helpline has been providing specific advice about how coronavirus has affected the law and guidance on providing additional support for learning to parents and carers of children with additional support needs over the period of the lockdown. There have been over 150 enquiries and, where known, most of the enquiries have concerned autistic children.

n. The Kinship Care Forum includes Who Cares? Scotland (WCS), Children's Health Scotland, the Kinship Care Advice Service for Scotland (operated by Citizens Advice Scotland), the Kinship Care Alliance, Children 1^st, Big Hearts and Nurture Scotland. Each of these organisations has specialist knowledge about kinship families' common experiences. Information has also been shared by Family Rights Group UK relating to Scottish kinship families.

o. Evidence for this report was gathered from three sources: semi-structured telephone interviews with 42 Scottish statutory and third sector organisations involved in supporting people experiencing or perpetrating domestic abuse or other forms of VAWG; documentary evidence provided by organisations involved in supporting people experiencing or perpetrating domestic abuse or other forms of VAWG; and written qualitative empirical examples provided by members of Police Scotland's Domestic Abuse Champions' network. The majority of organisations that participated primarily supported female victims of domestic abuse and the majority of incidents referred to involved a female victim and male perpetrator.

p. Aberlour Urgent Assistance Fund (https://www.aberlour.org.uk/service-category/urgent-assistance-fund/ )

q. Intelligence received from Licketyspit- a national specialist early years theatre company with expertise in child-centred and intergenerational Play.

r. ParentClub Campaign, Scottish Government www.parentclub.scot

s. Intelligence from the Scottish Childminding Association (SCMA)

t. Childminding settings were allowed to re-open earlier than larger settings on the basis of evidence from other countries where childcare has already re-opened which has found that the overall risk of COVID-19 transmission can be reduced by focusing on five aspects of practice, principally based around caring for children in small groups, which are very close to the established childminding model.

u. Intelligence from Scottish Children's Reporter Administration, 15 July 2020

v. https://www.scra.gov.uk/young_people/virtual-hearings/

w. http://www.scra.gov.uk/2020/07/face-to-face-hearings-update/

x. http://www.ohov.co.uk/2020/07/07/face-to-face-hearings-ohov-consultation-response/

y. http://www.scra.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/SCRA-reponds-to-consultation.pdf

z. The survey was circulated via 32 TSIs across Scotland to local forums and networks. 1180 third sector organisations responded and from those responses, 243 organisations stated they provided services to children under 16, young people or families. The survey covered a range of adult and children services meaning some of these 243 organisations may also provide services for other client groups. Also, although responses received cover all 32 local authority areas, some organisations may operate across more than one local authority in Scotland.

aa. This has been supported by donations from the Corra Foundation and Foundation Scotland's Community Response, Recovery, Resilience Fund.

bb. Submission to the Culture, Tourism, Europe and External Affairs Committee for its inquiry on the impact of COVID-19 on Scotland's culture and tourism sectors

cc. The survey was circulated via 32 TSIs across Scotland to local forums and networks. 1180 third sector organisations responded and from those responses, 243 organisations stated they provided services to children under 16, young people or families. The survey covered a range of adult and children services meaning some of these 243 organisations may also provide services for other client groups. Also, although responses received cover all 32 local authority areas, some organisations may operate across more than one local authority in Scotland.