To receive Report No. 26/2019 from the Strategic Director for People.

Report No.26/2019 was received from the Strategic Director for People.

Mr Foster, Cabinet Member for Safeguarding – Children and Young People and Armed Forces Champion introduced the report the purpose of which was to give the Panel an opportunity to gain an understanding of the purpose and function of the children and young people’s improving access to psychological therapies programme (CYP IAPT).

A presentation (appended to the minutes) was also delivered by Ceri Mutton, Targeted Intervention Practitioner.

During discussion the following points were noted:

·         CYP IAPT was a way for individuals to learn to manage symptoms and build long term resilience to emotional issues.

·         Young people wanted services that were non-stigmatising, local, and easy to access and that was what IAPT was trying to achieve.

·         IAPT practitioners were trained but were not practising in a clinical environment. The CYP IAPT service did not replace CAMHS but operated in their own right and complemented the early help and mental health services available for children and adolescents.

·         The mother of child C, as referenced in the case study presentation, did not have to go through multiple referral routes to get help for her child. 

·         Where children grow up in families where there is a mental health need they pick up learned behaviours in terms of how to approach challenges. One of the most fundamental things IAPT practitioners did was to support families by addressing basic well-being matters such as diet, sleep and exercise. 

·         In the case of Child C, who was in danger of disengaging from their education as they were very anxious about going to college, the practitioner helped to facilitate practising using public transport; planning the journey, looking at the timetable and physically trying the journey beforehand. In this way, encouraging independent thought to logically think through a problem was achieved.

·         The IAPT programme would work with schools in the hope that mental health would be destigmatised and that young people would recognise that they could take responsibility for their own mental health.

·         By being resilient, students would be able to face and deal with peer pressure.

·         Members commented on paragraph 11.2 of the report which highlighted that children receiving contact or intervention through CYP IAPT met the CAMHS thresholds but were not receiving on-going support from the service.

·         Cross border collaboration on the programme and its governance was being addressed, however the programme was particularly effective in Rutland because of its ability to be responsive.

·         The report had elements that cut across the remit of all three Scrutiny Panels and the portfolios of Cabinet Members responsible for health, and children’s safety and education. Members were assured that mental health was being fully addressed by all.

RESOLVED:

The Panel;

1.    NOTED new developments in the provision of early emotional well-being and mental health support for children and young people in Rutland.

2.    NOTED the benefits of early assessment and evidence based intervention for children’s mental health and well-being in order to assess low to moderate need.

3.    SUPPORTED Rutland’s young people’s stated wish for mental health and emotional well-being to be non-stigmatised, for support to be visible and for support to be early and accessible to children and their families.

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Mr Walters left the meeting at 8.15pm and did not return.

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