School mental health plans need an update
Derren Hayes
Sunday, April 28, 2024
The idea for mental health support teams (MHSTs) to bridge the gap between school counselling services and specialist therapeutic support in the community came out of the children’s mental health green paper published in 2017 by Theresa May’s government. Plans to introduce MHSTs in a third of schools and colleges by 2023 and to half by 2025 were confirmed the following summer.
Latest reports suggest the rollout of MHSTs is on track and their work highly valued. The problem is in the extent of the ambition and who MHSTs are helping – or missing out.
As Children’s Commissioner for England, Anne Longfield argued that the implementation of MHSTs was too slow. Now chair of think-tank the Centre for Young Lives (CfYL), she is calling for their extension to receive a “rocket-boost” so an extra four million children can access them (analysis, p14). She is right. The number of eight- to 16-year-olds with a probable mental health condition has risen from one in nine pre-pandemic to one in five now, according to latest NHS England data.
In addition to more children needing mental health support the complexity of their needs is growing. The CfYL highlights that instead of supporting children with mild-to-moderate problems as originally envisaged, MHSTs are dealing with more serious conditions. This isn’t surprising – the current Children’s Commissioner for England recently found 40,000 children had waited more than two years to see a specialist – but it means those with emerging problems are unable to access early help to prevent issues deteriorating.
The 2017 reforms were the right ones but events have overtaken them – their design was based on a scale of need in 2017 not 2024. They couldn’t have anticipated a global pandemic, war in Europe and cost-of-living crisis. These issues, combined with the pressures of growing up in the 21st century, have ramped up levels of anxiety for children.
Whichever party wins the election must commit to rolling out MHSTs in every school and college in its first year of government. It should also adopt the CfYL’s proposal to develop online information hubs to signpost children and families to local support and undertake regular surveys to gauge the “emotional temperature” of schoolchildren.
Policymakers must work with schools to create a supportive culture that is informed by – and can respond to – real-time information about the wellbeing of pupils and ensure timely access to different levels of support both on campus and in the community.
