An additional £7.1m will help to protect, improve and support the
mental health of children and young people in Wales, Health
Minister will announce today (Monday
14th January
2019).
The new investment will support the implementation of the Welsh
Government’s response to the recommendations made by the National
Assembly’s Children, Young People and Education Committee in
its Mind over Matter report last year.
The funding will build on previous investments to improve child
and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) and will also
support the whole-school approach to improve mental health and
wellbeing in schools.
The Minister will make the announcement during a conference in
Cardiff today, which will bring together Wales’ directors of
education to discuss ‘Developing a partnership Approach
for Mental health and Wellbeing’.
Health Minister, said:
“Improving mental health for everyone is a top priority for me as
Health Minister and for the Welsh Government.
“In Wales, we’ve taken action to put services in place to help
children and young people deal with the pressures of everyday
life. In recent years we have been able to provide additional
funding to expand the numbers of specialist staff and develop new
services.
“The extra funding I’m announcing today is a significant and
meaningful investment to help us do more to protect, improve and
support the mental health and wellbeing of our children and young
people by further developing these services.”
The £7.1m investment is in addition to £1.4m being invested by
the Welsh Government in a programme of mental health in-reach
support for schools to strengthen the support from CAMHS in
schools in four pilot areas across Wales.
Minister for Education, , said:
“The mental health and wellbeing of our children & young
people is an absolute priority, and our ‘whole school’ approach
ensures this is central to the way schools work and touch on all
the different aspects of school life.
“This funding will help build on the dedicated, professional
support we provide to schools, including through our Child and
Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS), to ensure our pupils
are fully supported through each stage of their education.”
