12 OCTOBER 2009
NO 1499
Mental health
The literature on mental health responses for looked after and accomodated (LAAC) children and mental health draws attention to difficulties and challenges in ensuring that the mental health needs of LAAC young people are effectively addressed. The Edinburgh Connect service model was designed explicitly to address these systemic issues, informed by an analysis of the general and particular local barriers that stood in the way of the LAAC population receiving an effective response to their mental health needs within residential care, from CAMH services and through these two service systems working together.
The evaluation demonstrated the value of retaining a strong focus on capacity building as a core function of Edinburgh Connect in its work with residential units and the positive impact of this in promoting better understanding of mental health and improving responses available to young people who experienced mental health problems.
Although considerable progress had been made
by most units and Edinburgh Connect towards collaborative working,
units' levels of engagement with the service were not consistent and a
small number continued to be more distant and make less direct use of
the resources available. There was general agreement that this was a
question of unit culture and management and leadership style and was not
an indication that the mental health needs of young people in those
units were less than or different to those of young people in other
units.
Key features of the Edinburgh Connect consultation model
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Over time, Edinburgh Connect had eased working relationships between residential care services and CAMH services. Young people in residential care had clearer pathways and readier access to specialist mental health assessment and interventions through Edinburgh Connect and as a result of the team's role in facilitating appropriate referral to CAMH services. The team had been able to secure dedicated psychiatric input for the LAAC population. In addition, CAMH services acknowledged and respected Edinburgh Connect referrals and assessments.
The overall impact on residential units is a considerable achievement in view of what is known firstly, about the difficulties of intervening in and influencing closed systems such as residential care and secondly, about the scale and level of mental health need among LAAC young people. Further, the establishment of the Edinburgh Connect service had taken place against a background of considerable structural change both in the local authority child and family services (with the reshaping of departmental structures and the review of residential care) and in the CAMH services (with the integration into a single management structure of the Child and Family Mental Health Service and the Young People's Unit). Despite the challenges associated with change of this order, these developments presented new opportunities for Edinburgh Connect to become more firmly embedded in the new structures.
A. MCCOLLAM AND A. WOODHOUSE
McCollam, A. and Woodhouse, A. (2007). Familiar challenges, promising solutions. Edinburgh Connect: A mental health consultation service for residential care staff working with looked after and accomodated children. International Journal of Child and Family Welfare, 10, 1-2. pp. 55-56.