Impact Assessments in Action

This section contains examples of impact assessments—both child/youth impact assessments and assessments in other fields that affect kids, such as health impact assessments—and how they can influence policy decisions about children.

Examples of Completed Child/Youth Impact Assessments
Immediate Opportunities
Opportunities for Elected and Government Officials
Examples of Impact Assessments from Other Fields That Affect Children and Youth

Examples of Completed Child/Youth Impact Assessments 

Examples from the U.S.

• Youth Impact Assessment Helps Pass Property Tax Measure to Fund Schools, Metropolitan Area North of Denver, Colorado (link forthcoming)
• Impact Assessment Related to Park Opening Highlights Consequences for Children, Santa Clara County, California
• County Uses Youth Impact Assessment to Highlight Children’s Digital Literacy Needs, Fresno, California
  • Digital Literacy Proposal Youth Impact Assessment 
  • Youth Digital Access and Literacy Survey Results, Conducted as a Result of YIA Pointing to the Need for the Youth Voice – English/Spanish
  • Cover Memo Highlighting Survey Findings 
• Child Impact Statement for Defending Childhood Initiative, Shelby County Office of Early Childhood and Youth, Shelby County/Memphis, Tennessee

Examples from Outside the U.S.

• A Child Rights Impact Assessment of Bill 39, An Act Respecting Proof of Immunization, New Brunswick Office of Child and Youth Advocate
• Heat Networks Bill, Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment, Scottish Government
• Impact of COVID-19 restrictions on children and young people, Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment, Scottish Government
• A Child’s Rights Impact Assessment on a Proposed Policy Related to the Environment and Sustainability, Welsh Government

Examples of Businesses Conducting Youth Impact Assessments

• Child Rights Impact Assessment to Understand how Business Operations Impact Children, Verizon Communications, Inc.
• Child Rights Impact Assessment to Understand how Business Operations Impact Children, Telia Company

Immediate Opportunities

Youth impact assessments can play an important role in ensuring young people are considered when decision-makers need to take immediate actions, such as in response to the following situations:

• Emergencies, like wildfires, floods, hurricanes, and other weather events; shootings; civil unrest
• Rapidly moving policies, like legislation, ballot initiatives, and other policymaker decisions
• Public health emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Following are examples from COVID-19:
  • A “New Normal” for the Country’s Children: How We Can Put Kids’ Needs Front and Center as We Recover from the COVID-19 Crisis
  • Kids Impact Initiative Fact Sheet: How Youth Impact Assessments Can Help Kids Get Their Fair Share of American Rescue Plan Funding
  • Example of an impact assessment to respond to COVID-related proposed policies: Independent Children’s Rights Impact Assessment on the Response to Covid-19 in Scotland

Opportunities for Elected and Government Officials

Elected and other government officials—whether at the city, county, state, or federal level—are best suited to both initiate and benefit from youth impact assessments as they decide on new policies.

• Kids Impact Initiative’s fact sheet, Youth Impact Assessments: Helping Elected Officials Improve the Lives of Children & Youth, outlines how elected and other government officials can start using YIAs and provides examples of places using them today.
• Examples of Incorporating Child/Youth Impact Assessments into Government Practices
  • Officials in Santa Clara County, California, Champion Use of YIAs: Memo to County Board of Supervisors Requesting Approval for How County Departments Will Carry Out Child Impact Statements.
  • Government Officials in Scotland Use YIAs as They Consider All Policies Scotland: In 2021, a bill in Scotland was passed to make the preparation and publishing of child rights and well-being impact assessments (CRWIAs) mandatory. This requirement is expected to go into effect in 2023.

Examples of Impact Assessments from Other Fields That Affect Children and Youth

Below are examples of impact assessments in other fields—including health, environmental, and disability—and the outcomes resulting from them that can inform the design and use of impact assessments focused on children and youth.

• Outcomes from Assessments in Other Fields
• Racial Equity Impact Assessments

Health Impact Assessments

• Health Impact Assessment, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Improving Health in the United States: The Role of Health Impact Assessment, National Research Council
• Do Health Impact Assessments Promote Healthier Decision-Making? The Pew Charitable Trusts

Environmental Impact Assessments

• What is an Environmental Impact Statement? American Bar Association
• FAQs (on Environmental Impact Assessments), United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
• National Environmental Policy Act Review Process, United States Environmental Protection Agency
• Regional National Environmental Policy Act Contacts and Environmental Impact Statements by State, United States Environmental Protection Agency

Disability Impact Assessments

• The Americans with Disabilities Act: Checklist for Readily Achievable Barrier Removal, Disability and Business Technical Assistance Center
• ADA Checklist for Existing Facilities, Institute for Human-Centered Design
• What is the Americans with Disabilities Act? National Network: Information, Guidance, and Training on the Americans with Disabilities Act
• About the ADA Standards, United States Access Board

For assistance in implementing youth impact assessments in your community, contact info@kidsimpact.org.