The Survey of Well-being of Young Children (SWYC)™ is a freely-available, comprehensive screening instrument for children under 5 years of age. The SWYC was written to be simple to answer, short, and easy to read. The entire instrument requires 15 minutes or less to complete and is straightforward to score and interpret. The SWYC is approved by MassHealth for compliance with the Children's Behavioral Health Initiative screening guidelines. The SWYC is copyright © 2010 Tufts Medical Center.
Recognized by the American Academy of Pediatrics
According to the AAP policy statement on developmental surveillance and screening, “it is appropriate to perform additional developmental screens using validated tests. These screenings should be recognized separately, with appropriate coding, billing, and payment and with the additional cost acknowledged in capitated expectation.” The policy statement provides “a list of developmental screening tests and their psychometric testing properties,” noting that “these screening tests, which are focused on parent-completed tools, have acceptable psychometric properties.” The table includes the SWYC Milestones under “general developmental screening tests”, the BPSC and PPSC under “behavioural screening tests”, and the POSI under “Autism Screening: Promising Tests”.
Lipkin PH, Macias MM, AAP Council on Children with Disabilities, Section on Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. Promoting Optimal Development: Identifying Infants and Young Children With Developmental Disorders Through Developmental Surveillance and Screening. Pediatrics. 2020;145(1):e20193449
Utilizing the SWYC in Your Practice
The current version of the SWYC has been extensively researched, and further research is ongoing. In addition, the current version is widely disseminated. For these reasons, any changes to the components of the SWYC are strongly discouraged. In unusual circumstances, requests for exceptions will be considered by the authors (theswyc@gmail.com).
On the other hand, translations of any/all components of the SWYC are strongly encouraged. The process we recommend for translations is described in chapter 4 of the SWYC Manual, and final versions should be made available to be posted on the website. If you are interested in translating the SWYC, please email theSWYC@gmail.com to request a free license.
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Interested in sharing your thoughts on the Survey of Wellbeing of Young Children? Please take this 5-10 minute survey. Your feedback will be very helpful as we work to further develop and support the use of the SWYC. Click here to complete the survey.
Parts of the SWYC
Every SWYC form includes sections on developmental milestones, behavioral/emotional development, and family risk factors. At certain ages, a section for Autism-specific screening is also included. To learn more about the sections of the SWYC, see our Parts of the SWYC page.
SWYC Forms
Age-specific SWYC forms are available for each age on the pediatric periodicity schedule from 2 to 60 months. To view or download these forms, see our Age-Specific Forms page.
Need more information?
Check out the manual! Or, see our list of publications, talks, and presentations and our FAQ page.
The SWYC and the information on this site are not designed to and do not provide medical advice, professional diagnosis, or treatment. The information and any reference materials posted here by Tufts Medical Center, Inc. are intended solely for the information of the reader. Such information is NOT intended to replace consultation with a qualified medical professional. The SWYC is copyright © 2010 Tufts Medical Center.
