CYP IAPT, MindEd and other opportunities to promote the mental health of young people leaving care

1. CYP IAPT, MindEd and other opportunities to promote the mental health of young people leaving care Dr Cathy Street, National Children’s Bureau (NCB) Research Centre March 4th 2014

2. Overview A brief overview of three current programmes that aim to promote children and young people’s mental health: • Children and Young People’s Improving Access to Psychological Therapies – CYP IAPT • Minded – new e-learning portal • GP Champions - a pilot project supported by Youth Access and the Association for Young People’s Health (AYPH)

3. Why it’s important to think about the mental health of care leavers? • An important life transition – and often one where young people experience difficulties accessing services • Well documented that children and young people in care show higher rates of mental health problems than other children and young people • Study by Ford et al (2007) reported that 45.3% of 5-17 year olds looked after by local authorities had some form of psychiatric disorder; similar figures noted in the CAMHS National Review (DH and DCSF 2008)

4. CYP IAPT • National programme - originally run by Department of Health and now NHS England • Aims to transform Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) – in particular, to improve access to psychological therapies • Policy context – the focus on evidence-based practice, outcomes monitoring, patient choice and participation • Now in year 3 with aim to cover 60% of all CAMHS • Builds on existing services – does not create new standalone IAPT services (so unlike adult IAPT)

5. How CYP IAPT works • 5 geographical locations or “Learning Collaboratives”: North East, Yorkshire and Humber; South West; London and the South East; Oxford & Reading and the North West – Salford, Manchester, North and Central Lancashire • Each learning collaborative has 1-2 Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) who provide a range of 1 year training courses – in CBT, parenting, Systemic Family Therapy (SFT), Interpersonal Therapy (IPT), leadership and supervision • Each collaborative is made up of CYP IAPT partnerships who link to the HEI – groups of services including CAMHS teams, LAs, voluntary sector services (e.g. counselling services)

6. A focus on evidence based practice • Offers training with ‘backfill’ for staff released to go on either a trainee, supervisor or managers course • Infrastructure support for IT (since outcomes are monitored on a session by session basis), children and young people’s participation and accreditation • Idea is that trainees cascade out the learning, thereby supporting change across services/whole staff groups • Sharing of learning and expertise promoted across partnerships and collaboratives, with variety of national groups underpinning this (e.g. national curriculum group)

7. How young people leaving care might benefit? • More accessible services, with more active involvement of young people and emphasis on ‘listening to young people’ • Young people share their views nationally about what they think the priorities for CAMHS should be… and these have included improving transitions/supporting young people when they leave services • Continued opportunities for young people to get involved to support service development • Self-referral also being promoted through CYP IAPT… less hoops to jump through to get help when needed

8. MindED • A new e-portal providing an extensive array of e-learning sessions about children and young people’s mental health and emotional wellbeing • Funding from the Department of Health/NHS England, with development support via the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) and e-LfH (e-learning for health) • Portal launches this month, on Tuesday 25th March

9. Portal structure

10. What the e-learning sessions cover • Portal will offer over 200 e-learning sessions (designed to take about 30 minutes to complete) • Written for both universal and specialist audiences • Wide range of topics including: children and young people’s rights; relevant legislation; participation; mental health problems and treatment approaches; outcomes monitoring; understanding child development; different treatment approaches and ways of working • Will provide links to other learning materials – reports, useful websites, organisations etc

11. GP Champions • Pilot project running in 10 areas of England that aims to transform the way that public services are delivered to young people aged 11-18 years • Collaboration between GPs and voluntary youth services including shared learning sets • Draws on the evidence of young people’s preferred access routes • Development of new models – e.g. GP surgery sessions in youth counselling services; new models of outreach support • Aims to influence local commissioning and planning of services

12. How young people leaving care might benefit • Improved local offer of services • Raised GP awareness and understanding of young people’s needs • Service planning that is better attuned to young people’s concerns, informed by their active participation

13. More information • For CYP IAPT, www.myapt.org.uk provides resources and information to support practitioners, discussion forums and dedicated section for young people. Register via the site for regular e-bulletins and event information • Information about MindEd is available from www.rcpch.ac.uk/minded • For GP Champions, go to www.youthaccess.org.uk and www.youngpeopleshealth.org.uk