Simplified Child Impact Assessment
In a sports association, many decisions are made that affect children and youth – sometimes without us realizing it. IFK Umeå’s experience and research show that adults often have great influence over youth sports, while children and youth themselves have limited opportunities to influence decisions concerning them. A child impact assessment helps the association pause, view the decision from the children’s perspective, and consider the best interests of the child before decisions are made.
Both a quick version and an in-depth version are available for download here (see the supporting materials). The purpose is to help associations make safe and well-informed decisions based on the best interests of the child – in a simple and practical way.
Here are the questions to ask yourselves in the quick version. Try using this as support at your next board meeting!
Ensure that you can answer YES to the following:
- Do we know which children and youth are affected by the decision?
- Have the affected children and youth had the opportunity to express their views before the decision is made?
- Have positive and negative consequences been identified?
- Do we know which risks need to be minimized?
- Are there measures that are reasonable to implement?
- Has the best interest of children and youth been considered in the decision?
- Is there a plan for follow-up?
