Together, the Children and Youth Planning Table (CYPT), UNICEF Canada, the Canadian Index of Well-being, and the Ontario Trillium Foundation are developing the prototype of a new child and youth well-being survey. The Community Child and Youth Well-being Survey will be aligned to the Canadian Index of Child and Youth Well-being, developed by UNICEF Canada to measure and monitor the well-being of children and youth. The survey will be used to gather comprehensive, actionable data on how children and youth are experiencing life across Canada.
The development and implementation of the survey will be separated into two different phases of the work. The development and testing of the prototype (Phase 1) started in June 2019 and will continue until June 2020. At the end of Phase 1, there will be a survey developed which Waterloo Region and other communities across Canada can use to better understand the well-being of children and youth. Phase 2, timing and resourcing yet to be determined, will focus on the implementation of the survey developed in Phase 1 to gather local data on how children and youth are experiencing life right here, in Waterloo Region. The Community Child and Youth Well-being Survey was one of the projects included in the Smart Waterloo Region proposal and with the financial support of the Ontario Trillium Foundation in addition to in-kind support from all project partners, Phase 1 of the work is able to continue without the Smart Cities Challenge grant.
Building on the great work of UNICEF Canada and CYPT’s recent youth engagement work, the survey will be co-developed with and tested by local young people. Ensuring youth are engaged in the process will support their positive engagement in the process of gathering, understanding and using data about their lives. Having youth co-developing and supporting implementation will make for a better survey.
In the coming weeks, the CYPT will be reaching out to members to support youth engagement in co-designing and promoting the Community Child and Youth Well-being Survey. Stay tuned! If you have any questions, contact Shannon McIntyre, Social Planning Associate at ShMcIntyre@regionofwaterloo.ca or 519-575-4400 ext. 2144.