4.1 All children and young people and their parents or carers require access to information and supportive environments to ensure that the child or young person's mental health is promoted. Specific activities such as tackling bullying, the provision of education to increase awareness of mental health issues and to improve the recognition of children's emerging needs, and the provision of support for those children with particular needs, have a vital role to play in improving the chances for children and young people. Everyone in a community has a role to play in ensuring that the environment in which children are growing up promotes their mental health.
4.2 There are some children and young people, such as those in special circumstances or those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, who will be at greater risk of developing mental health problems. For these children and their parents or carers, the provision of early intervention may make a significant difference. See Standards 1, 2 and 4
| All staff who work with children and young people, in any service, are able to recognise the contribution they can make to children's emotional well-being and social development and use their own professional skills in supporting children when there is concern about their well-being. They understand their responsibilities for supporting children in difficulty. Staff who work directly with children are able to access support and advice from specialist CAMHS. In addition to specialist CAMHS, there are a range of staff from children's services who can work in collaboration with front line staff to aid early identification and support of children with mental health difficulties. These include social workers, behaviour specialists, educational psychologists and specialist support staff. Primary Care Trusts and Local Authorities ensure that local protocols for referral and support are agreed between relevant agencies. Primary Care Trusts and Local Authorities ensure that local needs assessments identify children in special circumstances (including those who are homeless, those who misuse substances, asylum seekers, young people in young offenders institutions and looked after children) and that services are in place to meet their needs. See Standard 1 Services ensure that an emphasis is placed on children and young people who are vulnerable to mental health problems and on providing focussed, structured, proactive programmes which target risk factors, using the common assessment framework as appropriate. See Standard 3 |
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CAMH Workers for Primary Care
4.3 CAMH Workers for Primary Care are a key resource for work in the interface between specialist CAMHS and Tier 1, to support staff in primary health care, education, social services and other agencies. The National Committee for Primary Mental Health Workers in CAMHS has prepared a description of the role of the CAMHS Primary Mental Health Worker (3). Whilst there are core components of the skills and knowledge base and role that are universal, each area will also need to develop the detail of these posts with their own local needs in mind.
4.4 CAMHS workers in primary care settings should be offered high levels of supervision and support to ensure that they do not become isolated.
Primary Care Trusts and Local Authorities continue to develop early intervention and prevention CAMHS within their areas through the provision of CAMH workers in community settings. Primary Care Trusts and Local Authorities ensure that CAMH workers for primary care work in partnership with specialist CAMHS and that their training, supervision and support needs are addressed. |
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