Overcoming CAHMS Barriers : How Biscoes offer legal solutions for your child's mental health needs

Children who have involvement with Children’s Services are more likely to be rejected from specialist mental health services. Does this surprise you? Sadly it doesn’t me. As a solicitor who works with some of society’s most vulnerable families and children I know only too well how hard it is to get CAMHS (Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services) to work with children who have involvement of Children’s Services. We are always told the child needs to be in a stable placement before they will accept any referral, however as practitioners we know that often a stable placement will be difficult to establish for a number of reasons, often because the young person has mental health difficulties.

Cambridge University and the National Children’s Bureau published a report in August 2024 which has found that those children in most need of support around their mental health are often turned away because their situation is unstable. The report, poignantly titled A Call For Change, has found that children on child protection plans are twice as likely to be rejected while children with other involvement are three times as likely to be rejected.

The report which can be read here; A call for change (ncb.org.uk) recommends that children with social work involvement should have a dedicated pathway to CAMHS for support from social work and mental health specialists and that CAMHS should have more flexibility to better suit children and young people perceived to be in less “stable” situations.

Biscoes have a dedicated team who specialise in advising and representing parents and children who find themselves under scrutiny of Children’s Services