CAMHS Tier 2 Re-commissioning: Enhanced community offer

Coventry City Council are recommissioning its CAMHS Tier 2 targeted services for children and young people. Tier 2 services provide an early intervention/prevention emotional wellbeing and mental health support offer to CYP, within the community. The new, proposed model aims to deliver a flexible and enhanced offer for early intervention and prevention, at a time when mental health needs are on the rise and our local population is growing rapidly. The new model has been developed out of engagement, in depth needs analysis and up to date policy review, also taking into consideration both the short- and long-term impact that Covid has and will have on the mental health of children and young people. The new model aims to deliver a holistic and varied service which moves away from the traditional and rigid. This allows for a wider reach in terms of capacity and the 'early' in early intervention to become a reality. It is anticipated this service will support around 4,000 children and young people and families per year in Coventry. Engagement and policy review outlined that children and young people, and their carers feel most unsafe and unsupported when sat on long waiting lists, with no contact or information in the interim. This service aims to bridge that gap. By providing early intervention, effective signposting, referral, and where possible social prescribing, this is a service which will hold children and their families safely whilst they wait for further intervention and support. A service which aims to prevent escalation of need by intervening early, providing low level support and therapeutic intervention which can be accessed not only by the children and young people but by the family as a whole. Empowering parents and carers is a key part of this service model, as is informing, supporting, and training schools and GPs to improve social awareness of mental health to help reduce stigma. By co-locating this service in Family Hubs and embedding it within the heart of Coventry's communities, it aims to filter out to those harder to reach groups, who find the more clinical setting overwhelming and off-putting. Virtual support forms a key part of this offer, further expanding out to children and young people who would otherwise choose not to engage with mental health services. The service aims to support more children and prevent them from escalating needs and/or reaching crisis.