Therapeutic Support- or rather the lack of it

Children and Young People Now reports Jenny Clifton, the principal policy adviser at the Office of the Children’s Commissioner for England, calling for the care system to address the recovery from trauma of abused and neglected children. She is reported as saying that Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) are not meeting this need. Children and young people had told the Commissioner’s office that appropriate mental health services were not there for them at the right time. 

Sadly there is not a lot new in what Jenny is saying, but she is right to say it and to say it again and again. For years and years the absence of appropriate mental health services to support traumatised children and young people has haunted the care system and resulted in untold damage. We all know that the long-term consequences of not addressing these problems as soon as possible probably costs many times more than doing the job properly in the first place. But government after government after government simply can’t seem to grasp this nettle – and as a result children and young people continue to suffer.