The Department of Health and NHS England have recommended a move from traditional clinical services for young people with emotional health needs. There is now growing recognition that young people need something else: non-stigmatised, welcoming services that see and hear young people where they want and when they need it.
Our approach
Our services are designed to improve emotional health and wellbeing by building personal resilience through participation, healthy relationships, positive lifestyles and access to development opportunities. We know that emotional and physical health among vulnerable groups can be poor and services find it difficult to engage with and retain these young people. We draw on the INTEGRATE approach – bringing mental health services out of clinical settings and into places that suit young people.1
As providers of a wide range of services, we deliver emotional wellbeing support to many vulnerable groups including looked after children, those exhibiting harmful sexual behaviour, young people with special educational needs and those at risk of entering or already involved with the criminal justice system.
New approaches in practice
Axis @ The Hive is a new health and wellbeing service for 16 to 24-year-olds in Camden, delivering support in an environment that appeals to young people. Axis targets those who do not engage with or who may fall through the gaps between children’s and adults’ services. Health professionals augment our team of young adults who are trained to support young people with education, employment, housing, social care, and their emotional health and wellbeing. Axis is based at The Hive, a purpose-built hub co-designed with young people where young people can study, socialise, take part in activities and get information or support on wider services.
‘I feel a difference in my quality of life. The Hive has helped me with issues, made me feel safe and less lonely.’ Young person
Empower and Protect
We are piloting innovative approaches to support children and young people at risk of or experiencing child sexual exploitation. Our South Yorkshire Empower and Protect programme recruits and trains specialist foster carers who are given wraparound therapeutic support by our team of psychologists and youth workers. Teams from social care and voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations are supported to deliver therapeutic interventions.
Dual diagnosis
Our substance misuse services are closely aligned to CAMHS provision, operating joint working practice to support individuals presenting with mental health needs. We invest in workforce development and clinical supervision, enabling us to support young people with mental health needs who do not meet clinical thresholds needed to be seen by specialists.
Enhancing CAMHS delivery
We support direct delivery of CAMHS services and are part of dedicated CAMHS contracts designed to improve the transition into adult services and broaden the spectrum of expertise within services. As specialists in youth services, we are able to engage with hard to reach young people by delivering support in locations that suit them. We deliver early interventions, get young people pre-treatment ready and deliver support while they are waiting for Tier 3 clinical provision.
Working in partnership
We provide emotional wellbeing services in partnership with NHS Trusts, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), local authorities and VCSE organisations.
Our impact
- Our substance misuse services support 36% more young people with mental health needs than the national average
- Families using our Wirral Intensive Family Intervention service report a 46% improvement in their wellbeing2
- Families using our Cheshire East Family Focus service report a 48% improvement in their relationships2
Further information
- Download our two-page overview of our emotional wellbeing services
- Read our two-page overview of our Young People and Famillies work
Get in touch
Contact us if you have an enquiry about Catch22’s emotional wellbeing services and a member of the team will get back to you as soon as possible.
Please note that we are unable to provide emergency support or urgent responses through this enquiry form.
1 Building on the work of MAC-UK and The Integrate Movement through collaboration
2 From January to December 2015
