This report by the Centre for Mental Health reviews the latest data on mental health among children and young people with a focus on those who are at higher risk, including young people from racialised communities, lower socioeconomic backgrounds, young people with SEND, those who have been in contact with the criminal justice and care systems as well as LGBTQI+ communities.
The report warns post-Covid children’s mental health services are buckling under pressure and putting vulnerable young people at greater risk of exploitation, serious violence, and abuse.
The report looks at the growing crisis of mental health problems among children and young people in England and puts forward ambitious and innovative proposals to redesign young people’s mental health services, particularly for those young people at risk of harm.
It reveals a profound crisis in children and young people’s mental health services in England and a system of support that is buckling under pressure, frequently over-medicalised and bureaucratic, unresponsive, outdated, and siloed.
Failing to support some young people with mental health problems could lead to more behavioural incidents at school, a rise in exclusions, and more children then becoming at risk of grooming and exploitation. The report says a rising tide of poor mental health has the potential to expose even more children to exploitation, crime, and offending. A failure to detect problems early in many young offenders reduces the likelihood that they will persist with criminal activity into adulthood.