Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA) for the National Care Service Charter of Rights

4. Analysis of Evidence

Raising awareness and understanding of rights for children and young people

Evidence indicates a general lack of awareness and understanding of rights among children and young people. Many do not feel fully able to realise their rights in practice, often due to limited accessible information and a lack of confidence in navigating the social care system.

This is particularly evident in the experiences of young carers. Young carers often feel they are not listened to or respected and they may not make a complaint due to fear of negative repercussions. This can limit their ability to exercise their rights.

Evidence indicates that the Charter can address these issues by acting as an accessible and useful tool for children and young people looking to access more information on their rights. We heard that the Charter clearly sets out what children and young people’s rights are, including additional rights afforded to them as well as what they should expect from care services. This is likely to increase confidence to seek support, raise concerns and engage with complaints or feedback processes where necessary.

Information needs for children and young people

Evidence highlights the importance of providing clear, accessible and age appropriate information to support the understanding and realisation of rights.

Advice from policy teams emphasised the need to recognise the additional rights afforded to children under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Further advice suggested it would be useful to include a dedicated section for children and young people including links to accessible, child-friendly resources. Young carers also highlighted the need for practical advice and signposting to services which would enable them to access support and navigate the social care system more effectively. The decision to include links to child-friendly resources was deemed the most appropriate way to demonstrate children’s rights in the Charter without including large amounts of complex information.

Overall assessment

The evidence gathered through stakeholder engagement and engagement with children and young people directly indicates that the NCS Charter of Rights has the potential to positively support the rights and wellbeing of children and young people.

Findings indicate that the publication of the Charter will have a positive impact on children’s rights by raising awareness of rights and providing information that better enables children to hold services to account if these rights are not met.