Children and young people
We are reforming the way we respond to and treat mental ill-health. Not only improving clinical services to be more responsive for children, young people, and adults but also building new networks of support easily accessible from schools, communities and workplaces to support our good mental health and wellbeing.
We have:
- set up an Advisory Group on Healthy Body Image for Children and Young People to look at ways of improving support for young people and advice for professionals
- commissioned an independent review on mental health services for young people entering and in custody at HMP and YOI Polmont (response in ministerial statement issued in June 2019)
- announced a £250 million health investment package to provide dedicated mental health counsellors in schools, extra training for teachers, and an additional 250 school nurses to offer emotional and mental health support and advice
- set up the Children and Young People's Mental Health Task Force
- provided funding for a Youth Commission on Mental Health Services
Children and Young People’s Mental Health Task Force
On 29 June 2018 the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport announced a joint task force with COSLA on children and young people's mental health. The task force will provide recommendations for improvements in provision for children and young people's mental health in Scotland and, in partnership, develop a programme of sustainable reform of services. A report on the preliminary view and recommendations from the Chair was produced in September 2018. We published the Taskforce Delivery Plan in December 2018 and the Task Force Recommendations in July 2019.
Youth Commission on Mental Health Services
In December 2017 we announced that we were partnering with the Scottish Association for Mental Health (SAMH) and Young Scot to form the Youth Commission on Mental Health (YCMH). The aim of the Youth Commission was to gather evidence on existing services, encourage debate among young people and develop recommendations for ministers and service providers on how child and adolescent mental health services can be improved. The Youth Commission on Mental Health Services Report was published in May 2019.