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Mental health services for children and young people are at crisis point, according to an exclusive survey of social care professionals working with children and families, writes Rachel Downey.

The survey of 1,500 care professionals was released this week at the launch of 'Changing Minds', Community Care's major campaign to improve mental health care services for children and young people.

It finds that almost four fifths of those surveyed said existing services were in crisis, with over 94 per cent stating that services were hard for parents to access and 90 per cent stating that there was insufficient information about services for both parents and young people with mental health problems. 97 per cent said services were under-resourced.

Almost a third of the care professionals who referred children to specialist treatment services said they had to wait a month before a place became available. A fifth of the young people referred to specialist services were turned down for a service, and two-thirds of these did not access any alternative services, such as counselling.

While services are difficult to access, according to our sample demand is growing:

- Two thirds of social care professionals working with children and families said the number of children with moderate mental health problems had increased over the last five years.

- One third stated that the number with severe problems had increased over the same period.

- Four out of five professionals believed the number of children with emotional problems had increased in the past five years, and 83 per cent thought there were now more children with behavioural problems.

Over four-fifths of professionals said poor parenting, or parents’ inability to cope, was the root of the increase in hyperactivity disorders and emotional and behavioural problems among young people, while more than two-thirds blamed parental drug and alcohol misuse.

Family breakdown and the lack of early intervention programmes for young children were also deemed to be key causes of the mental health problems in young people.

Two-thirds of social care professionals surveyed felt that health professionals were under-diagnosing mental health problems in children and young people. Nearly four-fifths attributed this reluctance to the lack of services available. Almost nine out of 10 said untreated mental health problems in children and young people could lead to youth offending.

To tackle the problem, more than three quarters of our survey respondents proposed a national strategy to cover all mental health services for children and young people, and a similar number said ministers should increase the amount of money allocated for services.

Just under four fifths said the government should develop specific community-based services for adolescents.

90 per cent said more specialist child mental health social workers were needed,

and over 85 per cent said more therapeutic services for abused children would prevent their mental health problems.

The sample also wanted an increase in early intervention and diagnosis programmes; improved training, and increased support for families of children with mental health problems.

The survey was conducted by NSN Research.