The Government's proposed Green Paper on Transforming
Children and Young People's Mental Health lacks ambition and will
provide no help to the majority of those children who desperately
need it.
So says the combined Education and Health and Social Care
Committees in their joint report examining the Government’s Green
Paper on Children and Young People's Mental Health
Provision.
Trailblazer Pilot schemes
The Committees are worried that the long timeframes
involved in the Government's strategy will leave hundreds of
thousands of children and young people unable to benefit from the
proposals. The Government is rolling out new “Trailblazer” pilot
projects where mental health teams provide extra support
alongside waiting time targets. But these schemes are set to roll
out in only a fifth to a quarter of the country by
2022/23.
Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee,
MP,
says “The Green Paper is just not
ambitious enough and will leave so many children without the care
they need. It needs to go much further in considering how to
prevent mental health difficulties in the first place.
We want to see more evidence that Government will join up
services in a way which places children and young people at their
heart and that improves services to all children rather than a
minority.”
Chair of the Education Committee, MP,
says, “The Government must back up its
warm words by taking urgent action to
address the mental health issues which children and young
people face today.
This strategy does not go far enough, which raises the very
real prospect of hundreds of thousands of children missing out on
the getting the help they so desperately need. We heard of the
strong links between social disadvantage and mental health
issues.
If the Government is serious about tackling injustices in
our society, it must ensure proper targeted funding of support
for those most in need. Ministers should also recognise the
separate support needs of apprentices and FE
students.
Social media is an increasing part of young people’s lives.
Given both the negative and positive impacts it can have on young
people’s mental health, social media education should be made a
compulsory part of PHSE in all schools.”
Strain on schools and colleges
Both health and education services are under great strain
with significantly stretched resources, and workforce recruitment
and retention concerns. Half of school leaders appear to have cut
back on their mental health support services.
The Green Paper wants schools and colleges to deliver the
‘Designated Senior Lead for Mental Health’ role from within their
own ranks. But this will only make worse the pressures of the
existing high-accountability system, combined with a stretched
teaching workforce.
Staff need support within their school or college to ensure
that their role is balanced with their normal duties. The
Government must ensure that the existing CAMHS workforce is not
overburdened by the demands of the Green Paper.
Exam pressure
In a discussion forum held with young people, participants
told the Committees that high-stakes exams have adverse effects
on their mental health and well-being. The Government needs to
gather independent evidence concerning the impact of exam
pressure on young people.
In addition, the Committee heard, in formal evidence, that
young people excluded from school seem much more likely to have
social, emotional and mental health needs, yet the Green Paper
does not address this issue. The Government must focus on the
increase in pupils being excluded with mental health needs and
how the mental health needs of excluded pupils are being
met.
Transferring to adult care
Young people are also falling through the gaps and not
receiving the services they need as they enter adulthood. At age
18, young people
transition to adult mental health services. But a far more
appropriate age appears to be 25. Indeed it seems that a third of
18 year olds drop out of mental health support rather than
transfer to adult services.
The Government must commit to a full assessment of the
current transition arrangements between child and adult mental
health services. In addition there needs to be a distinct and
separate set of proposals for looked after children accessing
mental health services.
