Funding Focus: Youth mental health grants

Despite a proliferation of grant-makers for children’s mental health, NPC researchers conclude the charity sector can no longer meet the demand for support given the level of funding it currently receives.

What are major funders doing?

Several major charity funders have responded by offering additional grants for children’s mental health support. These include:

• BBC Children in Need opened applications last year for a £1m award to support the implementation of the learnings that came out of its £10m A Million and Me Fund. The Children's Society won the single award for its work to offer targeted early intervention support to children aged eight to 13 from marginalised communities.

• Maudsley Charity launched a new grants programme, Building Brighter Futures, designed with children and young people, in June. The programme is for organisations supporting children and young people most at risk of mental illness.

• The Prudence Trust, established in 2020, has awarded funding for children’s mental health in a range of different areas, including academic research, digital technology, and projects that use creative and nature-based approaches to support wellbeing.

• The Stone Family Foundation which works with NPC, has recently shifted its mental health funding strategy to focus on young people, which will include a number of early intervention initiatives.

• Nominet is funding NPC’s Signpost programme – a collaborative initiative working with communities, data experts, the social sector and beyond to ensure that young people can navigate the many sources of mental health support available.

How to best improve outcomes?

Researchers have identified six key areas where funders could create long-term positive change.

1. Preventative work and early intervention Increasing preventative work could have a big impact and fill a gap in current provision. Interventions that support children’s social-emotional functioning or work to prevent adverse childhood experiences are backed by the strongest evidence base.

2. Supporting children from minoritised groups NPC research shows that some groups, including young women, children from ethnic minority communities, LGBTQ+ groups, and disabled children and young people, are more likely to experience mental health challenges. Tailored support for these groups would help reduce inequalities in access and care.

3. Building and diversifying the mental health workforce Without more targeted funding to train and retain mental health professionals, change will not be possible. Funding training placements in existing mental health organisations is one approach while supporting the training of professionals in rural areas could also help to reduce patchy provision.

4. Funding research on what works In a bid to develop more innovative and effective solutions to support young people’s wellbeing, research institutions, charities, and funders often spread their energy too thinly and do not focus on rigorous testing, implementing, evaluating, and scaling ideas which have potential. Helping to scale an intervention that already has some evidence of effectiveness would be fruitful.

5. Enabling collaboration across the mental health sector There are many different agencies involved and services available. Enabling them to communicate effectively and encouraging the sharing of good practice is important to avoid duplication.

6. Exploring a systems-based approach to funding Most charities develop simple linear interventions, and receive funding based on the promise of these solutions. There is also a need to zoom out and gain a better understanding of the multiple and dynamic causal factors that influence youth mental health. A pooled fund that supports service delivery alongside policy, campaigning, and systems change work has the potential to drive real change, both in the short and long-term.

Report from: www.thinknpc.org/resource-hub/the-youth-mental-health-crisis/