A third of senior staff not aware of fund to help children with mental health problems

Over a third of senior child and adolescent mental health
services staff are not aware of the government’s £12
million fund to improve the mental health of looked-after children,
new research by children’s mental health charity YoungMinds
has found.

Its survey of England’s CAMHS lead clinicians and managers
reveals that 39 per cent were unaware of the mental health grant,
or reported that it was not being used to finance priorities agreed
with their local social services.

It also discovered that of the lead staff that did not know
about the mental health grant, 67 per cent were also not consulted
about how it should be spent once they had been informed. Of the
respondents that said they were aware of the grant, 70 per cent
said it was not spent on services they deemed a priority.