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Policy Digest 12, February 2010

Advice Policy

Advice and Mental Health
Our latest evidence report, With Rights in Mind, has received an enthusiastic reaction from members and agencies across the youth, advice and mental health sectors. The study found strong associations between social welfare problems, mental health and youth and concluded that the provision of social welfare advice may have a significant beneficial impact on young people’s mental health and well-being. As such, it provides powerful evidence supporting the ‘under one roof’ YIACS model adopted by many of our members.

Members will each receive a hard copy of the briefing version in the monthly Youth Access mailing. If you could make strategic use of further copies, please let us know.

Download With Rights in Mind report or briefing on our website

View press release 'Advice has key role to play in improving mental health'

“I found [With Rights in Mind report] to be exceptionally insightful and useful. Many thanks” Stephanie Hewat Simmonds, Head of IAG and Family Mediation Services, Alone in London

Youth homelessness: G v Southwark
The fallout from the landmark G v Southwark decision continues. While local authorities try with varying degrees of success (and sincerity) to come to terms with its implications for them, many advisers are still not sure what they should be advising the young people who come to see them.

A difference of emphasis has emerged between some lawyers and housing advisers as to what advice should be given to young people, with some taking a more flexible line than others.  The fundamental disagreement has been around whether or not 16-17 year olds should be advised to go to the local housing authority as a homeless applicant, for interim accommodation under section 188 of the Housing Act 1996 in emergency situations, rather than directly to Children’s Services.

The most accessible and pragmatic guidance available at present is the Shelter Children’s Legal Service Briefing Responding to youth homelessness following the G v LB Southwark  judgment , but advisers should be aware that some lawyers, have taken a more robust line on how the judgement should be applied and their opinions can be accessed via the Children’s Rights Alliance for England.

The Howard League for Penal Reform publish comprehensive guidance on the duties of local authorities to provide children with suitable accommodation and support services called Chaos, Neglect and Abuse: looking after children leaving custody.

Youth Access believes that it is vital for YIACS to liaise closely with sources of second tier advice, such as Shelter, your local Law Centre or a friendly local specialist housing lawyer when trying to guide young people through homelessness situations.

Against this background The Local Government Association (LGA) is lobbying for more cash to cope with a predicted rise in the care bill for homeless teenagers in following the G ruling. The Government’s position is that nothing has changed in the law and that G merely clarified local authorities’ existing duties, so that no more funding will be forthcoming. Read the CYPN story.

NCVYS and Children England’s Speaking Out project has published a policy briefing paper focusing on homelessness and its effects on young people. The paper sets out the policy and legal context surrounding this issue and highlights good practice. Download the NCVYS briefing. 

Advice for Children in Care and Care Leavers
Ofsted has published a report by the Children’s Rights Director for England on the experiences of children in care and care leavers of obtaining advice. The report Getting Advice is based on surveys and discussion groups with a total of 351 children and reveals social workers as the prime source of advice. ‘Young people’s centres’ were amongst the lowest reported sources. 13% felt that they either didn’t get much of the advice they needed, or didn’t get it at all and the gap was felt to be biggest at key times in the progression through the care process. Download the report

Civil recovery against those accused of shoplifting
Citizens Advice has published a report dealing with a growing number of cases of threatened civil recovery against people accused of shoplifting or employee theft. Most of the CAB clients concerned are young – one in six of those who received a letter demanding repayment of costs way over the value of the alleged thefts were under 17 at the time – and many are sufficiently ashamed or intimidated by the threat of court action and escalating costs to pay up without challenge.  There seems to be no evidence that the courts have accepted the recovery of such sums and Citizens Advice considers the letters and their threat of escalating costs, to constitute 'deceitful', 'unfair' and 'improper' business practice, as defined by the Office of Fair Trading.
Download the report and get more information from the Citizens Advice Service website

'Serious threat' to independence of advice and advocacy charities
The independence of advice and advocacy charities is under serious threat from the Government according to the Baring Foundation. The foundation, which awarded grants worth £1.2m in 2008 to seven initiatives established to increase the sector's independence, says in the report Rights with Meaning that increased commissioning and the personalisation of public services are among the main dangers.

Commissioning, it says, poses a "formidable threat to independence" because it increases the state's control over service providers, silences dissent and reduces the ability of charities to set their own priorities. Download Rights with Meaning. 

Counselling and Mental Health

New Horizons
New Horizons: a shared vision for mental health sets out a dual approach; combining service improvement with a new partnership between central and local government, the third sector and the professions to strengthen the mental health and well-being of everyone. It builds on the National Service Framework for Mental Health and sets out key levers for change, including:

• Prioritising mental health across all sectors – nationally and locally
• Facilitating local and national leadership across Government and Third Sector
• Use of effective and resourced commissioning Increased use of routine outcome measurement
• Building capacity across the workforce 

In addition to setting out the main themes from the consultation (many familiar to YIACS), the strategy outlines the following actions:

• A new cross-Government Ministerial group and implementation of health impact assessments across Government policy
• Tackling stigma and more mental health promotion
• Government review of the Third Sector’s contribution to service personalisation and early intervention
• Recognition of need to tackle transition issues between CAMHS and AMHS, including more participation of young people in service design
• More guidance on joint commissioning for children and young people and young adult services
• A need to identify, evaluate and disseminate models of good practice for adolescents and young adults
• A broadening of the range and level of research funding across all sectors, including charitable funding. Areas for further research include effective models for improving transition
• A better focus on employment as an outcome of interventions, including the integration of employment support with IAPT services
• Linking strategies for alcohol abuse and violence and abuse prevention with mental health

'Serious threat' to independence of advice and advocacy charities
The independence of advice and advocacy charities is under serious threat from the Government according to the Baring Foundation. The foundation, which awarded grants worth £1.2m in 2008 to seven initiatives established to increase the sector's independence, says in the report Rights with Meaning that increased commissioning and the personalisation of public services are among the main dangers.
Commissioning, it says, poses a "formidable threat to independence" because it increases the state's control over service providers, silences dissent and reduces the ability of charities to set their own priorities
Download Rights with Meaning

Counselling and Mental Health

New Horizons
New Horizons: a shared vision for mental health sets out a dual approach; combining service improvement with a new partnership between central and local government, the third sector and the professions to strengthen the mental health and well-being of everyone. It builds on the National Service Framework for Mental Health and sets out key levers for change, including:

• Prioritising mental health across all sectors – nationally and locally
• Facilitating local and national leadership across Government and Third Sector
• Use of effective and resourced commissioning
• Increased use of routine outcome measurement
• Building capacity across the workforce
  

In addition to setting out the main themes from the consultation (many familiar to YIACS), the strategy outlines the following actions:

• A new cross-Government Ministerial group and implementation of health impact assessments across Government policy
• Tackling stigma and more mental health promotion
• Government review of the Third Sector’s contribution to service personalisation and early intervention
• Recognition of need to tackle transition issues between CAMHS and AMHS, including more participation of young people in service design 
• More guidance on joint commissioning for children and young people and young adult services
• A need to identify, evaluate and disseminate models of good practice for adolescents and young adults  
• A broadening of the range and level of research funding across all sectors, including charitable funding. Areas for further research include effective models for improving transition 
• A better focus on employment as an outcome of interventions, including the integration of employment support with IAPT services
• Linking strategies for alcohol abuse and violence and abuse prevention with mental health

Children and Adults Mental Health Services

Keeping Children and Young People in Mind: the final report of the national CAMHS Review

Youth Access analyses the DH’s response to the CAMHS Review.

Despite the policy developments of recent years, there remain considerable gaps and problems in provision. These are not substantially due to policy, but result from a failure to fully implement them and an absence of change in services and people’s thinking and behaviours, and a failure to commit to the re-focusing of resources - not just money, but time and commitment.

The review’s vision includes:

• Everyone recognising and contributing to children’s and young people’s mental health and psychological well-being – parents and carers, as well as professionals
• Local areas understanding the needs of all their children and young people and engaging effectively with them 
• Appropriate training of the whole of the children’s workforce
  

And the following recommendations:

1. Establishing of a National Advisory Council to ensure:
-    promotion of mental health and psychological well-being remain a national priority
-    the Review’s recommendations are effectively addressed
-    the Government is held to account for its progress
-   
2. Strengthening the Government’s national support programme by:
-    Setting up a national multi-agency support team
-    Giving clear expectations of government offices and strategic health authorities to deliver a coherent performance management and ‘support and challenge’ role to local areas
-    Strengthening legislation requiring Children’s Trusts to set out in their CYP Plan how they will ensure delivery of the full range of children’s services
-    CTs setting up local arrangements to ensure effective commissioning and delivery of the full range of services to support mental health and psychological well-being

3. Supporting the children’s workforce in meeting these challenges by
-    Providing child development and mental health and psychological well-being in all basic training
-    Setting minimum standards in practice in relation to mental health and psychological wellbeing in both initial training and continuing professional development
-    Supporting delivery of early intervention work in universal services through additional training, formal supervision and access to consultation from specialist services
-    The Government ensuring that those who need it should have access to the latest training in evidence-based therapies

4. Delivering the highest quality of practice across children’s services by:
-    Continuing national work on outcome measures
-    Setting a clear strategic approach to monitoring, outcomes- focused evaluation, service improvement and inspection across all children’s services
-    Providing accessible and relevant knowledge about mental health and psychological wellbeing to all professions

However, YoungMinds at least seems unimpressed by the Government’s response, suggesting it contains nothing new. Read the CYPN report.

National CAMHS Support Service Participation Project

The NCSS have established an 18 month project to co-ordinate the development of key products which will promote the meaningful participation of children and young people in the planning, delivery and review of emotional and mental health services. More information about this exciting new project is available from NCSS Participation Project Officer, Rajinder Nagra, at rajinder.nagra@cypf.org.uk or 077754 07164.

New good practice tools

A wide range of case studies and implementation tools are now available to supplement the Improving Access to CAMHS good practice guide. A summary tool to support the delivery of local workshops around Improving Access to CAMHS is also available. Download the tools.


New strategic commissioning guidance on emotional health
DCSF has published non-statutory guidance to assist senior managers across children's services in developing a strategic approach to promoting the emotional health of children and young people. The guidance sets out to assist senior managers with leadership or commissioning responsibilities in developing a strategic approach to promoting emotional health. It considers emotional health across the age range, and how it can be supported in a number of environments.

YIACS are included as suggested providers for advice and guidance for young people, and though an explicit link is not made with provision of mental health support, Youth Access members No Limits are used as a good practice case study of integrated provision. Download the guidance from DCSF website.

Don’t forget Youth Access resources on commissioning (from which the No Limits case study was extracted) which you can download from our website:
•    the guide for commissioners
•    the toolkit for YIACS


Care Quality Commission wants better preventative mental health services
The NHS, councils and wider community bodies should improve preventative services to ensure they meet the mental health needs of people from black and minority ethnic (BME) groups, the CQC has said as it publishes the Count me in census. The report - published today and designed to promote equality in healthcare - monitors the ethnicity of inpatients and people subject to the Mental Health Act. It underlines the need for better local strategic needs assessments and bespoke community-based services to reduce the risk of admission and detention. Read more details at the CQC website.


Legislation on young mental health patients in hospital
NHS Finance Director General David Flory and Chief Nursing Officer Christine Beasley have written a letter explaining that from 1 April 2010 legislation places a duty on hospital managers to ensure that under 18s are treated in an environment in hospital that is suitable to their age. Download the letter.


New study on children’s wellbeing
The Children's Society has published Understanding Children’s Well-Being, a two-year research study that questioned over 7,000 children. One finding shows family conflict has far more influence on children’s well-being than family structure. Download the report from the Children’s Society website.

Parents of disabled children lack mental health support
A new survey by YoungMinds shows a third of parents with disabled children don’t get the support they need for their children’s emotional or mental health problems and 60% of those who do receive help question its worth.

87% of parents found barriers to getting help. These include lack of available services, long waiting lists, being blamed for their child’s problems, and their child not fitting the criteria for support. Read more on the YoungMinds website.


The State of Happiness: new report on wellbeing and resilience
A new report from the Young Foundation and the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) highlights that promoting and influencing happiness is no longer an airy aspiration. As the recession forces difficult public spending choices, services focused on wellbeing are delivering widespread economic and social benefits - especially to children. Read more at the Young Foundation website.

Youth Policy and Social Inclusion

Influencing IAG Strategy implementation
Youth Access has recently begun collaboration with the Confederation of Heads of Young People’s Services (CHYPS) and the National Connexions Network (NCN) to produce a joint response to the Government’s Information, Advice and Guidance Strategy. Due for launch in February, the 10 point initial response will be followed by other joint papers on key areas to help support the implementation of the strategy. By working together we want all those responsible for policy, planning, funding and commissioning nationally, regionally and locally to ensure young people have choice and access to the full breadth of impartial help and support.

More than one in seven councils failing children and young people
More than one in seven local authorities in England received a "red flag" for failing children and young people in some capacity, according to the first results of the new Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) inspections.
The CAA ratings, otherwise known as Oneplace, show that 22 councils are causing concern. Users of the Oneplace website can search for red flags under children and young people's issues. Read the CYPN story.

Ofsted has also published the outcomes of the new annual children’s services ratings which look at performance in 152 local authorities in England for 2009. Download the ratings at the Ofsted website. 

Transitions to adulthood
Research, commissioned by youth charity Catch22, has found that a quarter of young people aged between 18 and 24 do not feel ready to be fully independent without support.  The report, Ready or Not, highlights that young people reach adulthood at different speeds and at different times, and that many need continued help and support in their lives.  It calls on the government to formally recognise young adulthood, from 16 to 25, as a specific life stage and ensure services are better coordinated and more relevant to young people struggling to make the transition to adulthood. Download the report.

Providers’ experience of commissioning
DCSF has published research on providers’ views and experiences of being commissioned by local authorities and their Children’s Trusts partners in order to inform DCSF development of commissioning policy. It also sought to identify why providers enter or leave markets, expand or retrench services, their view of the future and to assess Compact compliance. Among the findings was a clear view among 3rd sector organisations that there is not a level playing field between the public, private and 3rd sector in the commissioning process. Download the report from DCSF website.

Taskforce to look at careers advice
The Department for Children, Schools and Families has launched a new taskforce to ensure the quality of careers advice received by young people.  The Careers Profession Taskforce forms part of the government’s information, advice and guidance (IAG) strategy published in October 2009 and will look at a number of areas: recruitment and retention of well-qualified careers professionals; ensuring that the profession is diverse; and whether or not to introduce a specialist qualification for career professionals.  Youth Access understands that there will be a wider group attached to the Taskforce which will consider issues of non-careers IAG.

The DCSF news release is, at time of publication, temporarily down, though we understand this is a technical issue. An alternative source for information on the Task Force is the website of the Institute of Career Guidance.
or try the DCSF release
 

Integrated working threatens specialist expertise, warns report
Specialist professionals working with children face being marginalised in modern-day children's services departments, a report by the Children's Services Professional Network has found. The Every Professional Matters report warns that the squeeze on public finances and move towards integrated services threatens the future of specialist disciplines such as educational psychologists and education welfare officers. Read the CYPN story. 

Evaluation of Activity Agreement extension pilots
The DCSF commissioned the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) and the Centre for Education and Industry (CEI) to undertake the process evaluation of the Activity Agreement (AA) Pilots extension phase. Activity Agreements pilots were designed to trial different approaches to support and encourage 16-17 year olds who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) back into learning, training or employment. The report highlights evidence that the current post 16 offer fails to meet the needs of vulnerable young people. Download the report from DCSF website.

Child poverty
Save the Children has published research, Measuring severe child poverty in the UK. The study shows that 13% or 1.7 million children are now living in severe poverty - 260,000 higher than in 2004 - and claims that tackling child poverty ‘has not only stalled but slid into reverse’ and number ‘dramatically increased’ even before the recession. Download the report.

Inequality in the UK
A report by the National Equality Panel into inequality in Britain finds an increasingly divided nation where the richest 10 per cent of the population are more than 100 times as wealthy as the poorest 10 per cent of society.  It highlights the extreme lifelong negative impact that being poor, and being born into a disadvantaged social class, has on a child. Read more about the report.

Social mobility
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) published Unleashing Aspiration, a response to the report on Fair Access to the Professions carried out last year by Alan Milburn. Measures include:
•    Professions and universities will be encouraged to attract more people from deprived backgrounds.
•    An online National Internship Service, building on the ‘Graduate Talent Pool’ will be set up; and
•    a guarantee for the brightest young people from low-income backgrounds to benefit from structured assistance at secondary school.

Proposals not adopted from the review include plans for parental vouchers in failing schools, and the closure of the careers advice service Connexions. Read more on the BIS website. 


Children’s Rights
UNICEF is launching a campaign to raise awareness about the rights of young people, promote their participation locally and challenge negative attitudes. Put it Right is an ambitious five-year £55m fundraising campaign that includes an expansion of advocacy work through a neighbourhood-based children's rights scheme. Child Friendly Communities, to be launched early next year as part of the campaign, will raise awareness about the rights of young people, promote their participation locally and challenge negative attitudes to children and young people. Read the article from Guardian.co.uk online.


New Chief Exec for CHYPS
The head of youth service in Sandwell has been appointed as the chief executive of the Confederation of Heads of Young People's Services (CHYPS). David Wright, Sandwell's principal officer of young people's services will replace Susie Roberts who has held the post since March 2006

Health

Acevo challenges charities' exclusion from bidding for NHS contracts
The Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (Acevo) has referred a primary care trust to an NHS complaints panel in a bid to challenge health secretary Andy Burnham's pledge that the NHS should be the preferred provider of services. The action was prompted by Great Yarmouth and Waveney PCT's decision to prevent non-NHS organisations from bidding to be primary contractors in providing community services. Non-NHS bodies were initially eligible to bid for contracts and the PCT intended to issue a pre-qualification questionnaire in early October, but this was delayed after Burnham pledged to make the NHS the provider of choice for NHS services, and at the end of November the PCT wrote to interested bidders saying it was changing its position. Read the Third Sector news story. 

New under-age drinking powers
New powers to tackle underage drinking, including making it easier for police to confiscate alcohol, move on groups of teenagers causing trouble and stop retailers selling to underage children have come into effect. Read the Home Office media release.

Smoking, drinking and drug-taking data
The NHS Information Centre has published its Smoking, Drinking and Drugs Survey (2006-2008). The statistics show a decline in the number of young people smoking, drinking alcohol and taking drugs. Yet it has found that children in the north of the country drink and smoke more than those in the south, and that girls aged between 11 and 15 in the Midlands and the North are drinking more than the recommended limits for adult women. Download the report.

Sexual health funding under threat
Children & Young People Now reports that funding for teenage pregnancy and sexual health services is under scrutiny in both Birmingham and Nottinghamshire. Read the CYPN article.


Young people’s health in the media to be conference focus
Young people’s health in the media is the theme of a conference organised by the Association for Young People’s Health (AYPH) to be held in Salford, Greater Manchester, on 23 March 2010.
More information from their website

Recession News

Youth unemployment down
The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show a 7,000 drop in unemployment, a 15,000 drop in the claimant count and a 7,600 drop in the youth claimant count in December. The employment level fell by less than in previous quarters and the number of vacancies increased. A significant increase in the number of full time students has increased the inactivity figures. Read the DWP media release.


Recession leaves almost half young Black people unemployed
The Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr) has published research showing that almost half (48%) of Black people aged between 16-24 have been left unemployed by the recession, compared to 20% unemployment among white young people.

The report shows that mixed ethnic groups have seen the biggest overall increases in unemployment, rising from 21% in March 2008 to 35% in November 2009. The smallest increase (6 percentage points) has been among young Asian people but overall unemployment among this group is still high at 31%. Read the ippr media release.

Young people’s resilience
The British Youth Council published a report, Weathering the recession, reflecting on young people’s experiences in their own words and calling for continued support so that they can face the future with hope. BYC surveyed 485 young people aged 12 to 25 across the UK on the effects that the recession has had on their lives. Download the report from BYC website.

Meanwhile the Prince's Trust’s  2010 Youth Index, which measures how young people feel about the state of their lives today and how confident they are about their future, finds that 16-25 year olds are the main victims of the recession and are already significantly less happy and confident than those in work.  Young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) are less happy and confident in all aspects of life than those in work, education or training.  Almost one in ten young people claim that unemployment has encouraged them to use drugs or alcohol. The report also suggests that unemployed young people will find it increasingly hard to secure jobs and attain happiness in the future. Download the report from Princes Trust website.  

Annual index shows recession has widened gap between UK cities
The recession has widened the gap between UK city economies.  Cities that were already suffering before the recession such as Barnsley and Stoke have been hit hardest, according to Centre for Cities' annual economic index, Cities Outlook 2010 finds that, as we move out of recession, the UK will face an uneven recovery.  Already-robust city economies like Brighton are more likely to grow stronger, leaving others like Doncaster further behind. Get more information and download the report from the Centre for Cities website.

Government launches guarantee for young people
The Government has launched the Young Person’s Guarantee, as promised in the 2009 budget, which will guarantee all 18-24 year olds unemployed for six months a job, training or work experience. Employers and young interns and apprentices were invited to Downing Street this week to mark the start of the scheme, which will be part-funded from a one-off tax on bankers’ bonuses. 100,000 young people will be eligible for the Young Person’s Guarantee immediately, and up to 470,000 opportunities will become available over the next 15 months. Read more on the DWP website.

Social care employers subsidised to recruit young unemployed
The Department of Health and the Department for Work and Pensions have launched a joint initiative, Care First Careers, to provide 50,000 apprenticeships for young people who have spent six months or more on job-seekers allowance launches nationally at the end of January. Read more details on the Jobcentre Plus website.


Young people ignorant about initiatives to help them find a job
Three quarters of school leavers do not think the Government is doing enough to help them find a job, according to a new report. Research commissioned by Lifetime shows 54% of young people do not know about any Government funding to help them find work, 80% said they received no information from a career adviser, teacher or parent about apprenticeship opportunities and 67% admitted they would have no idea where to go to find out about apprenticeships.

With the introduction of the Future Jobs Fund and Apprenticeship Expansion Programme, the Government is ploughing investment into apprenticeship schemes to provide young people with funded training that will make them immediately qualified to seek employment in many industries. But the research suggests the political parties are still not doing enough to capture the youth vote as the election approaches. Read the report in HR magazine.  

LVSC to run new ‘Big Squeeze’ survey
The London Voluntary Service Council is running its second Big Squeeze survey to find out how charities in the capital are coping with the difficult economic climate. Last year's survey highlighted increased demand for services and uncertainty about funding. The latest survey will track how charities are being affected by cuts in public spending. London members can complete the survey at the LVSC website.

Campaigns:

Campaign to improve benefit take-up
Youth Access has joined 26 other charities calling on the government to set ambitious targets to improve take-up of welfare benefits and tax credits. The campaign, spearheaded by Citizens Advice, highlights that more than £16 billion in means-tested benefits and tax credits currently goes unclaimed every year. It is vital, of course, that young people are able to get good advice on money and benefits, but Youth Access’ own research has shown that young people have particularly poor access to advice in this area. Read the press release on Citizens Advice website .

Consultations:

Consultation on Families Green Paper
DCSF is consulting on Support for All, the families and relationships green paper. The Government would like to seek views on how best to shape the next phase of family policy to meet the needs of families today and support strong family relationships. The deadline for responses is 21 April 2010. Respond to the consultation online.

Request for examples of effective early intervention practices
The Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) and C4EO (Centre for Excellence and Outcomes in Children and Young People’s Services) have requested examples of effective ocal practice for Early Intervention and Prevention, with a particular focus on support for those children, young people and families which present the greatest challenges. Read more details at the C4EO website.

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