Children’s Rights Impact Assessment (CRIA)
Welsh Government use Children Right’s Impact Assessments (CRIA) to evidence how they have had regard to children’s rights in their decision making. Although not all public bodies are required to use CRIA, they can be a useful tool to prompt decision makers to stop and think about the implications of their plans and how to ensure they have the most positive impact possible on children and young people. In fact, some local authority staff asked us for a template CRIA document that they could use, so we have responded by producing this document that is free to use for anyone working in any type of organisation.
The document is designed to prompt your thinking on each of the five key principles of our Children’s Rights Approach and we’ve left space for you to note down your thinking but it does not have to be completed in full.
Simple Self-Assessment Tool
This self-assessment tool helps professionals and organisations to improve how they work with young people, including:
- linking your strategic plan to children’s rights
- providing information to children in accessible language
- giving children opportunities to make changes and influence your organisation’s work
- being accountable to children and young people
USE OUR SIMPLE SELF-ASSESSMENT TOOL
Top Tips from Young People
We have engaged with a number of groups across Wales to ask them their views to help us create The Right Way – Social Care.
By working with these young people we’ve managed to create a poster with some simple tips they want to share:
Poster – Top Tips from Young People
Child Social Work Agreement
We have created a session plan that provides an example of how an agreement between a child and their worker can be developed.
If you would like to know about our rights based agreement click on the link below:
4C’s Young Commissioners
The 4C’s have created a range of resources to support children and young people access their rights including:
‘This is Me’ and supporting guidance – Templates for Social Care professionals to use with to record information about them that can be shared and is “All about them by them”, these support –
Article 12 – Right to be heard and Article 17- Right to information
The ‘This Is Me’ templates have been developed by the Young Commissioners who think it is really important children are able to have their voice hear and share information about themselves with potential new carers when they have to move home. These templates are used as part of the referral process for the All Wales Frameworks and are completed and shared with providers when a young person requires a foster home or to live in a children’s home in Wales. Providers of these services and potential carers have said that when they receive a referral that includes the voice of the child work it can really give a feel for the individuality of the child and positively contributes to the matching process.
These are great age differentiated templates with tips on how to use them to record direct work with children. These documents form a key part of the All Wales Referrals and Matching Toolkit.
CHILDRENS specification statement – include quotes about what children need from a good home. This supports –
Article 20 – Right to be looked after properly and Article 12- right to be heard
The Children’s Specification Statement which is included in, and at the forefront of, the 2019 All Wales Residential Framework and the 2021 All Wales Foster Framework contracts. This ensures that the voice of the child is prioritised in the commissioning foster and residential placements for children with the independent sector in Wales.
Child and Young Person’s Specific Statement Poster
Statement for recruiting carers – quotes about what children want from potential carers when they are unable to live at home. This supports –
Article 21 – If you can’t live with your parents, you have the right to live in the best place for you
This poster has been shared widely and is displayed in many care homes and foster provider premises across Wales. It is also available on the Social Care Wales website.