Recently in mental health Category

Private companies have just as much to offer children's social care as the public sector, and may even be better at reducing bureaucracy, says Barry Raynes, chief executive of Virgin Care's safeguarding expert Reconstruct. Virgin Care is one of three private companies bidding to run a number of children's social care services in Devon.

Spotted this local BBC story, reporting claims that children are being put at risk in Sheffield because of lengthy waits to access mental health services.

According to the BBC, the Sheffield charity Asperger's Children and Carers Together claimed some patients were waiting up to a year to see a specialist.

One mother said her son, who had expressed suicidal thoughts, had waited eight months before getting treatment.

NHS Sheffield, however, said it had increased spending on its child and adolescent mental health services (Camhs).

Now of course, lengthy waits and difficulties accessing Camhs for children are hardly new issues, but I have heard the problems are getting even worse, as the BBC's story suggests.

• You might also be interested in this helpful CC Inform guide to Camhs 

All foster carers and residential workers must receive training to help them support the mental health needs of looked-after children, YoungMinds has recommended.

This should be backed up with regular supervision and reflective support sessions.

The children's mental health charity made the recommendations in a report into the mental health of looked-after children in the UK, published today.

Based on interviews with 50 children living in foster placements, children's homes and secure settings, the report found children felt anxious about moving into placements and had a fairly negative perception of mental health services.

Young people also said they were frustrated that the only representation of life in care known to their peers was the television character Tracy Beaker. They said they were tired of telling friends they were 'not like Tracy Beaker'.

Looked-after children should be given the opportunity to visit foster placements and children's homes before they move there, the report recommended. They should also be given more information about placements to help them understand the environment they will be living in.

Lucie Russell, director of campaigns at YoungMinds, said: "Mental health services should be prioritising the needs of looked-after children and ensuring services are designed and delivered to meet them."

YoungMinds has also written to councils across the country, urging leaders to protect child and adolescent mental health services over the next financial year.

Annie Semphill, the social worker seen in Monday's episode of Protecting Our Children, responds to comments and questions from viewers, including those who took part in Community Care's live panel debate.

I couldn't quite bring myself to read all the reaction online as the programme was aired, but I got a good choice selection from my husband throughout the evening.

I feel really honoured by the praise and appreciation shown for our work, but we were really just doing our jobs. I'd like to share some of the warm words that were posted online with all the social workers in Bristol. It was very encouraging, if also a bit embarrassing.

One of the surprising areas of interest was a fascination with the security guards who accompanied me on visits to Shaun and Marva. Because of our long history with the couple I knew Shaun could be unpredictable with a tendency for violence. It did make me feel safe to have two large uniformed men standing behind me as I approached their front door.

I was less worried by the dog as I felt Shaun could keep control of him and wouldn't risk using him in a dangerous way.

Many Community Care readers wondered why I was off sick towards the end of the case, shown in the film, and asked if this was because of the emotional burden the case had on me. I wasn't off due to stress - I had quite a serious virus - but I think the case did exhaust me and made my recovery longer than it might otherwise have been.

I think the film successfully showed the supportive atmosphere in which I was working. Emotional turmoil comes with the territory when you're a social worker but I did feel it more in this case. We'd had such a long involvement with Marva and I really did have some cautious hope for her this time as the experience of dealing with the family had improved enormously.

There was much legal discussion behind the scenes on this case. It might not have been the focus of the programme, but there was a lot of preparation with colleagues to ensure that if we did need to move to care proceedings it could be done smoothly without delays.

The BBC filmed with me, Arthur, Shaun, Marva and all the other supporting colleagues for a good seven months to produce an hour's worth of television. I think it did convey the complexity of the decisions involved and was emotionally sympathetic - both to my profession and Shaun and Marva.

I am heartened to see the number of comments from social work students online who are now further encouraged to qualify.

• The final episode of Protecting Our Children is on Monday Feb 13, BBC2, 9pm. 

Last night's episode of the BBC series Protecting Our Children seemed to provoke an even more positive online reaction than the first - even winning over some of the first film's critics.

In particular, there was huge praise on Twitter and our live debate for the empathetic and calm-headed approach of social worker Annie (pictured) - seen supporting young couple Shaun and Marva during their fourth pregnancy - and her manager Arthur.

There was animated discussion, and some amusement, at the sight of Annie flanked by two burly security guards during home visits. (The security guards, like the social workers, were employed by Bristol Council for all the viewers who asked last night).

There was debate around the role of adult services in child protection cases, to support parents with mental health and substance misuse problems - as we saw last night. And of course there was the all-important question of whether the series will improve the public perception of social work. (Most viewers said they were hopeful but not quite convinced yet.)

Here's a quick round-up of views, thoughts and reflections from the web (more to follow soon):

@VjLupton (via Twitter)
Even more sure I'm doing right by getting my degree after #protectingourchildren amazing people making a difference.

@CathyAshley Family Rights Group (via Twitter)
Very moving #protectingourchildren. Sympathetic portrayal of all involved. Complete respect for social worker & her manager.

@mwilliamsthomas (via Twitter)
Half way through prog- very impressed so far - Annie a credit to the profession @ComCareChildren #protectingourchildren"

@mrspentleton (via Twitter)
#protectingourchildren. Massive respect 2 the SW. Massive respect 2 the foster carer. Everyone should watch this. Pay attention media!

@SteveDonnan (via Twitter)
Social workers get such a bad rap, I think they do an incredibly difficult and dangerous job. Takes great strength #protectingourchildren

@BASW_UK British Association of Social Workers (via Twitter)
Social worker showing great resilience & empathy, lets hope her other 14 cases are not as challenging!

And you can replay our debate from last night here: 

by Dr Lucy Rai, senior social work lecturer at the Open University

In the second episode of the BBC series Protecting Our Children we followed the pregnancy of a young couple, Marva and Shaun.

The pair had already had three babies removed from them and posed a significant risk to their unborn child, due to their chaotic lifestyle and severe alcohol abuse. We saw Annie, their social worker, trying to engage with them to minimise the harm to their unborn child. This episode also provides a number of valuable lessons for social work.

Assessing the safety of an unborn child

The risk to Marva and Shaun's baby began before birth. The level of alcohol Marva was drinking, together with her overdoses and lack of personal care, placed the unborn baby at considerable risk. Intervention at this stage could only focus on supporting Marva to prioritise her health and self care, which was no easy task when her self-harming behaviour was driven by depression and her relationship with Shaun.

Meeting the needs of children is so often only possible through meeting the needs of parents. Marva came heartbreakingly close to letting go of her destructive relationship with Shaun in order to prioritise her own health and that of her baby.

Managing emotional work

Last night's episode illustrated very poignantly that recognising and working with emotions is a central part of social work. As Annie said at the end of the programme, the time to stop working in child protection is when you stop feeling.

Annie could only build a working relationship with Shaun and Marva by acknowledging their feelings of loss, anger and anxiety. Arthur, Annie's team manager, also showed during supervision how important it was for Annie to express her changing feelings about the work.

The pain in this story, tempered only with occasional moments of hope and exhilaration, provides an important lesson about the importance of keeping feelings at the centre of good social work practice.

Harsh decisions

The decision to separate Marva from her baby affected everyone involved in the case profoundly. It illustrated the kind of social work recommendations that keep children alive.

Responsibility for such decisions remains with the court. In this case, the court will have taken into account the vulnerability of such a tiny baby and the level of risk posed by the child being in the sole care of parents with a history of extreme alcohol misuse, overdoses and, in Shaun's case, violence.

In this context, to wait until harm has actually taken place may well be too late.

• The Open University co-produced Protecting Our Children, in partnership with the BBC. Dr Rai provided expert input into the development of the series.

London Labour mayoral candidate Ken Livingstone (pictured) will speak at a rally on 24 November to protest the continuing cuts to frontline child mental health services in Lewisham, South London.

Already this financial year, there has been nearly £500,000 of cuts in Lewisham, with more expected in the next two years.

Livingstone will be one of the speakers at The No Cuts Cabaret in Lewisham between 7.00pm- 9.00pm Thursday, 24 November. In what way is it a "cabaret"? Will Ken break out some soft-shoe? I shudder to think...

Members of Unite and Unison are hosting the event.

photo credit: Amplified2010

The number of children being prescribed powerful antipsychotic drugs has doubled over the past decade, according to an investigation by Channel 4 News.

Anti-psychotics are meant for patients with serious mental conditions such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, Channel 4 said, but mental health experts say that they are now being used to control children's behaviour.

Professor Tim Kendall, who has been asked to write the first ever guidance on prescribing anti-psychotics to young people with serious mental illness, told Channel 4: "As far as I am aware there is no evidence that there has been a doubling in the rate of psychosis. So if there is a doubling in the rate of children being given anti-psychotics, that is a worry. My worry is that these drugs are being used for other purposes."

Anti-psychotics are known to have side-effects on adults such as weight gain, diabetes and Parkinson's disease-like shaking that does not go away when the individual stops taking the medication. The impact on children is as yet unknown and there is concern about the potential effect on brain development, Channel 4 said.

photo credit: sacks08