The Department for Education-funded pilots ran from January 2019 until March 2021 and saw a virtual mental health lead appointed to support professionals working with looked-after children. The project also focused on including children’s views in support.
Evaluation found that “good practice exists” in particularly in offering a “person centred” approach.
But elements of the pilot “appear to require further refinement and further evidence is required, at scale, to demonstrate effectiveness”.
While the programme “was established with considerable ambition” only 116 of an expected 350 children saw their assessments completed by March this year, according to evaluators.
Despite the evaluation noting that children’s professionals welcomed the “significant role” of the virtual mental health leads in supporting young people, it “found limited evidence of this then leading to positive outcomes for children and their carers”.
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