Here’s another reminder of the importance of the relationship social workers have with parents whose children have behavioural or mental health issues. A study by the Centre for Mental Health has highlighted that the social worker/client relationship is often “critical” to the level of engagement parents have with parenting programmes for children with behavioural problems. [...]
Last week, ex-care services minister Paul Burstow said a government project to boost talking therapies will “rewire” child mental health services. Adoptive parent Sally Donovan knows from painful experience how vital talking therapies are for adopted children, but in this honest, powerful piece she reveals how patchy good support is, and the terrible consequences that can have. Jamie* [...]
You say ‘Oppositional Defiant Disorder’, I say ‘Developmental Trauma’. Adoptive mother of two Sally Donovan navigates the muddy sea of definitions. One of the barriers to good support and treatment for traumatised and neglected children, in and adopted from care and adopted from overseas, is the messy confusion of terminologies used to describe the symptoms [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Nearly three quarters of families with disabled children have experienced anxiety, depression, isolation or family breakdown, according to the latest research by Contact a Family. A survey of over 1,100 families, published today, found almost half had asked their GP for medication or counselling, while 65% said they felt isolated frequently or all of the time. [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
A recent survey by mental health anti-stigma programme Time to Change reveals that only 1 in 100 people would talk to their dad first about a mental health problem, showing that family members are still often the last people we confide in.The survey found that people often prefer to discuss a mental health problem with [...]
Local authorities are slashing their spend on children and young people’s mental health services, according to a freedom of information request sent to providers and commissioners by the charity YoungMinds.Of the 55 respondents, 29 said they would reduce spend in this area.YoungMinds told Community Care that the social work workforce within CAMHS will be hit [...]
The Children's Services blog covers the latest news, views, gossip and analysis in children’s social care. It is aimed at professionals working with these children, young people and their families.
It is written by Community Care’s children's beat editor Camilla Pemberton.
Email: Camilla Pemberton
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