Meeting the Mental Health Needs of Children in the Child Protection System

Background

A research team consisting of the Policy Research Bureau, the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, the Personal Social Services Research Unit of the University of Kent, and the Mental Health Services of Salford NHS Trust has been jointly funded to undertake this major project as part of the Department of Health's new research initiative, Costs and Outcomes of Services to Children in Need. The research team brings together an important range of relevant perspectives, including methodological, clinical and economic expertise.

Children with problems in one area of their lives often have vulnerabilities in other areas too. There are a number of disturbing estimates for the overlap between child protection issues and mental health problems. While the child protection system may be a child's first contact with services of any kind, a proportion will need additional specialist services and input over and above those usually provided by child protection agencies. What needs do these children have? What services do they get? What are the best models for providing this type of support for these young people? How can the relative costs of these programmes be weighed up in the light of the benefits for the children? This project will seek to address this range of important and timely questions.

What does the research focus on?

The project focuses on the processes and outcomes for children with mental health needs who are entering the child protection system, and will track how multi-disciplinary teams dealing with at-risk young people identify needs and refer on to appropriate services. Services will be costed, and costings of different models of provision will be compared within and between local authorities. We will be seeking to:

• map, cost and compare the approach of a sample of local authorities to identifying and providing mental health services for at-risk children

• describe or develop models for good and cost-effective practice in providing `joined up' services for young people

• identify the mental health needs of at-risk children in these areas, and to describe the services they receive, focusing on systematic analyses of the relative costs of different approaches

• follow-up samples of the children to see how things progress for them over time

What does the research involve?

Drawing on the team's methodological, clinical and economic expertise, the project is employing a range of innovative quantitative and qualitative methods. Data are being collected from upto eight local authorities, drawn to represent a range of different situations or demands they can face (eg, rural versus city). Within these areas we are exploring in detail the ways in which social services departments link with mental health services for young people across statutory, voluntary and private sectors. Establishing costs of services is an important part of the work.

We will then go on to sample approximately 600 children and young people (5-16 years) within these areas, who are going through the child protection system. We will explore their mental health status, history and costs of past service use. We will collect data from files, and interview a subgroup of practitioners, parents and young people themselves. One year later we track their progress and outcomes, looking at the different services used and the associated cost. We will also be holding multi-agency chaired group discussions to explore some of the local and national issues at stake.

Timescale and final products of the research

The project will last for four years, starting in January 2000 and extending until the end of March 2004. We provide regular reports to the Department of Health, and at the end of the project we will be writing a major report for publication. There will be shorter summaries of specific aspects of the study, and feedback for the participating local authorities.

Last updated July 2004