What is the Merthyr Tydfil Children and Young People’s Plan?
The Children and Young People’s Plan (CYP Plan) is a statutory requirement for all local authorities under Section 26 of the Children Act 2004. It sets out the strategic direction for all services to children and young people aged 0-19 years for a 3-year period from 2008 to 2011.
It outlines the challenges facing Merthyr Tydfil and identifies a number of priority areas where services will be focussed to tackle specific need in the borough for children and young people.
This Plan will work in parallel with the Health, Social Care and Well being strategy and the Community Safety strategy. These three plans will work together to provide services across the borough for it's population.There are many links between the three plans and these are being actively strengthened to reduce duplication of work and help maximise the positive impact they will have on the lives of people of all ages living and working in Merthyr Tydfil.
How was the Plan written?
Responsibility for producing and implementing the CYP Plan lies with the Children and Young People's Partnership (CYP Partnership). This group brings together partners from across every sector of provision in Merthyr Tydfil to help coordinate and focus services where they are most needed and to provide strategic direction and support to providers.
Through the Partnership Planning Team, who provide administration support and carry out many of the Partnership's statutory duties, a series of consultation workshops were organised across the borough. These allowed partners and providers to discuss each of the core aims, identify our need and the services available, and produce a series of draft priorities. The full CYP Partnership then narrowed this list down to the nine priorities which were included in the final CYP Plan.
More information on the CYP Plan, the CYP Partnership and the work of the Partnership Planning Team can be found here
Needs Assessment
One of the common themes between the CYP Plan and the Health, Social Care and Well being Strategy is the statutory requirement for a needs assessment to be carried out.
The format for the CYP Plan needs assessment is based around a number of required outcome measures that we have to collect data on, which show the need in Merthyr Tydfil. In addition to the specified outcome measures, we can use other data sets and measures to highlight areas of particular need in Merthyr Tydfil.
These outcome measures are divided into the seven core aims, which are the underlying principles for the Welsh Assembly Government's vision on services for children and young people. Adopted from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the seven core aims state that all children and young people:
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have a flying start in life
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have a comprehensive range of education and learning opportunities
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enjoy the best possible health and are freed from abuse, victimisation and exploitation
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have access to play, leisure, sporting and cultural activities
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are listened to, treated with respect and have their race and cultural identify recognised
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having a safe home and a community which supports physical and emotional wellbeing; and
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are not disadvantaged by poverty
Definition
The Welsh Assembly Government describes needs assessment as “a method of identifying unmet health, well-being and social care needs of a population in a systematic way. It provides information upon which decisions about tackling those unmet needs can be made. Needs assessment is not a snapshot. It should be informed by previous and projected trends.”
The Welsh Assembly Government goes on to state that “needs assessment involves epidemiological, comparative and corporate methods to describe problems and issues facing a population” and that it should inform “priority setting and decision making.”
Introduction
The information gathered within this exercise is organised within the framework of the core aims. The data sets specified by the Welsh Assembly Government are laid out prescriptively against priority outcomes; where there is no nationally available data, local outcome measures will be used to quantify the priority outcome. This option is also available to highlight specific areas of need not covered by the priority outcomes
The analysis will cover current comparative data (highlighting where local performance is below the Welsh average), trend data (identifying changes in need over time) and, where possible, an assessment of future demand.
The needs assessment should highlight the requirements of particular groups of children and young people who need more services from professionals if they are to reach their potential. This list includes disabled children and young people; children in need of protection and looked after by the local authority; children and young people with complex needs; children living in poverty and groups marginalized as a result of their sexual orientation or ethnic background.
This needs assessment should be updated as part of the Partnership’s annual review and planning cycle.