What assessment it has made of the needs of care-experienced children in accessing neurodevelopmental pathways and support, and what action…

We recognise that care-experienced children and young people can be more likely to experience a range of health, wellbeing and developmental challenges and that they may face additional barriers to accessing services and support including neurodevelopmental support.In 2021 we published the Children and Young People’s Neurodevelopmental Specification, which sets out the principles and standards of care for all children and young people with neurodevelopmental support needs, including those who may be care experienced.The Specification aims to ensure that children and families receive the support and access to services that meet their needs at the earliest opportunity, based on the Getting It Right For Every Child (GIRFEC) approach. For many children and young people, such support is likely to be community based, and should be quickly and easily accessible.The Specification also makes clear that support should be put in place to meet the child or young person’s requirements when they need it, rather than be dependent on a formal diagnosis.In 2025, we undertook a review of the Specification implementation found here: Children and young people
- National Neurodevelopmental Specification: implementation review report
- gov.scot, and we are progressing the recommended next steps with partners including COSLA and the Children and Young People’s Neurodevelopment Taskforce.