This page provides a summary of the policy process to develop a local approach to reducing child poverty, it can be used in partnership with other agencies or within an organisation. The process has been developed from our work with Gwynedd and Rhondda Cynon Taff Councils, relevant policy guidance and cross referenced with the Welsh Assembly Government planning guidance for the Children and Young People’s Plan.
The 8 steps for reducing child poverty can be used to further develop your strategic approach, action planning and annual review.
The impact of child poverty cuts across the work of local authorities and their partners e.g. health, social care, finance, housing, education, criminal justice etc. An approach to reducing child poverty should therefore take a partnership approach. Step 1 involves convincing key people of the need for local action. The child poverty costs and solutions sections will help you to do this.
This step involves collecting the available evidence on child poverty related problems so that a persuasive case for local action can be further developed. Information within local needs assessments and the Welsh Assembly Government’s “Child Well Being Monitor” should provide the information required. The indicators and self assessment areas of the site will provide you with some useful advice.
To ensure that child poverty remains a priority, a group comprised of key decision makers should be constituted (as a part of the planning process for the children and young people's plan many partnerships have created groups under core aim 7 which focusses on child poverty). A key function of the group will be to support the delivery of the priority actions identified for reducing child poverty in the four statutory plans.
Many people have a stake in addressing child poverty, from children and young people, to members of the community, to local business, to health and social care professionals and those working in the criminal justice system. This step entails gathering stakeholder views on child poverty, identifying gaps and ideas on how to address it.
The Core Aim 5 section highlights the objectives of:
- breaking down barriers to children and young people's participation
- the importance of children and young people’s participation in child poverty policy development
An action plan is necessary to deliver on core aim 7 that draws together:
- the local evidence;
- identifies priorities;
- identifies target groups; and
- states objectives;
In addition the Child poverty self-assessment can assist in the identification of corporate areas for development which will further embed work to mainstream child poverty.
This step builds on step 4 "Involving stakeholders" by consulting on the draft actions and securing support for the objectives.
For successful implementation a robust project management approach is critical to success. The Child poverty self-assessment will assist in the action planning process and in monitoring progress.
This step involves performance management against the action plan and objectives. External factors that may impact on child poverty (e.g. new legislation for example) should also be monitored. A Child poverty impact assessment has been designed for use here.