Whole Family Wellbeing Funding Programme - CRWIA

Conclusion

5. Potential overall impact of this proposal on children’s rights

Applicable answer(s): Positive

The Programme aims to positively affect any child or young person and their families, irrespective of sex, disability, sexuality, race, religion or belief. Our vision is to provide access to the help they need, where and when they need it, and for as long as they need, free from stigma, in line with Covid-19 Children and Families Collective Leadership Group Holistic Family Support: Vision and Blueprint for Change (www.gov.scot). The Programme takes a holistic view of the term family – adoptive, biological, foster, kinship, extended, composite and others i.e. settings and homes that have felt like family and that some children and young people may belong to more than one family.

The Programme aims to transform the way family support is delivered by ensuring families can access seamless and holistic support that is wrapped around their individual needs. It builds on GIRFEC which aims for all children and young people to live in an equal society that enables them to flourish, to be treated with kindness, dignity and respect, and to have their rights upheld at all times.

Our longer term ambition is that holistic whole family support will be available to every family who needs it. However, we recognise that this is a process which will take time, and that CSPPs are at different stages, and taking different approaches to delivery based on local need. Our funding criteria for Element 1, encourages CSPPs to use their WFWF allocation to focus initially on supporting those families most in need, as per their local Joint Strategic Needs Assessment. For example this could mean a focus on the six priority family types identified in the Executive Summary - Best Start, Bright Futures: tackling child poverty delivery plan 2022 to 2026 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot). , or on children and families at risk of being taken into care. However, it is for local CSPPs to collectively agree how best to deploy their funding in services of their local need. The Programme also intrinsically recognises that providing early, holistic support to anyone who needs it can sometimes make it counter-productive to create artificial boundaries around who is eligible to receive that support. A focus of many Element 3 projects, is on children, young people and families either at risk of either being taken into care or affected by poverty.

The WFWF Programme has been designed to ensure that children, young people and families will be directly positively affected, as this Programme will begin the transformative whole system change in support available to improve their outcomes, health and wellbeing, and life chances.

No negative impact was identified for any of the children’s rights or for any group of children and young people. There are no concerns about compatibility with the UNCRC requirements. The Programme positively impacts a number of UNCRC articles, as detailed on page 5. The Scottish Government will continuously evaluate the programme to monitor for any negative impacts and opportunities to improve the Programme, considering any appropriate modifications and mitigations.

Mitigation Record

No negative impacts nor potential incompatibility issues were identified but should unintended consequences arise, appropriate modifications and mitigations will be put in place.

Action Taken/ To Be Taken

n/a

Date action to be taken or was taken

n/a

6. As a result of the evidence gathered and analysed against all wellbeing indicators, the proposal’s contribution to the wellbeing of children and young people in Scotland:

Applicable answer(s): Positive

The Programme positively impacts all Wellbeing Indicators. The Programme aims to transform the way family support is delivered by so families can access seamless and holistic support that is wrapped around their individual needs. It builds on GIRFEC which aims for all children and young people to live in an equal society that enables them to flourish, to be treated with kindness, dignity and respect, and to have their rights upheld at all times. The programme aims to positively affect any child or young person and their families, irrespective of gender, disability, sexuality, race, religion or belief, by providing access to the help they need, where and when they need it, and for as long as they need, in line with Covid-19 Children and Families Collective Leadership Group Holistic Family Support: Vision and Blueprint for Change (www.gov.scot)

7. Communicating to children and young people the impact that the proposal will have on their rights

The funding is being allocated to CSPPs and to organisations delivering relevant projects who are required to carry out their own CRWIAs. It is the responsibility of the CSPPs and those organisations to provide information to children and young people on how the funding will support them and to decide on the publication of a child-friendly or accessible CRWIA.

8. Post Assessment Review and sign-off

The WFWF programme and its impact on children and young people is being monitored regularly through an independent evaluation undertaken by external contractors to help ensure WFWF funding is making a positive impact on outcomes for children, young people and families. The WFWF evaluation is helping to assess how this funding contributes to positive outcomes for children, young people and families. The evaluation is based on what the Scottish Government and CSPPs expect transformation to look like. To date, an interim evaluation and year 1 have evaluation report have been published. A year 2 evaluation is due to be published early 2025.

The Programme has been designed to ensure we are continually evaluating the outcomes and impacts of the Funding. As such, this active document is being revisited annually and will continue to be updated in response to further planned substantive changes to the WFWF logic model and Programme. This is to ensure it delivers its intended outcomes for children, young people and families. The CRWIA will also be reviewed once the final independent evaluation report is received at the end of the WFWF Programme.