Report reveals 60 at-risk youngsters "vulnerable"

Friday 01 July 2016

A report has made 39 recommendations to improve the support and services to young people in Jersey who are considered vulnerable - revealing that 60 youngsters are on the 'at-risk' register and could be susceptible to suicide.

The report, by the independent Chair of Safeguarding Partnership Boards, says “significant progress has been made in implementing recommendations” although it still takes too long - an average of 38 days - for young people to be seen by a mental health professional.

A total of 60 young people in Jersey are now regarded as "vulnerable," according to Glenys Johnston OBE, the chair of the independent Safeguarding Partnership Boards.

She said: "We are talking about children who have left school and are not in education, training or in employment. I would use the term vulnerable to describe these young people. We are experienced more children in difficulties and they are having difficulties earlier and earlier in their lives." 

The Jersey Suicide Prevention Forum was set up three years ago to reduce the number of people taking their own lives - principally by offering youngsters the range of services open to them. 

The report from the Safeguarding Partnership Board shows there have been improvements in Jersey in the past few years, although it did find that the Island had a "relatively high suicide rate" compared to the UK.

It also said youngsters had a 38-day wait on average to be seen by a mental health professional at the start of this year and that the service's own target of 28 days was missed three times last year.

A total of 27 of the 39 recommendations for improvements have been carried out. Of the remaining 12 outstanding recommendations, six are new and the remaining require longer term structural changes and investment.

The report also highlights concerns about staffing levels and recruitment at the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS). CAMHS is continuing to implement recommendations from an action plan and has received significant investment recently. As part of this, six new posts have been agreed and are either in place or recruitment is in progress. These include two new roles to respond to urgent requests for service, therapists and primary mental health workers.

The report concludes that significant efforts have been made across the Health and Social Services Department, including Children’s Services, and CAMHS, and the Education Department in Jersey, to improve the support available to young people and their families, in order to reduce the risk of suicide.

Other improvements carried out include new guidance to the Honorary Police, better flagging of children on the child protection register, improved sharing of information between services and bespoke safeguarding training for CAMHS.

Mrs Johnston added: “The loss of any young person is a tragedy and devastating to both the family and friends of an individual, and to the wider communities they were part of.

“This report is clear about what work has already happened and what else needs to be done to ensure Jersey’s services are as effective as they can be in this area. Not all deaths are avoidable, but we have to do everything we can to ensure a range of support is in place for young people, their families and their friends, and that includes helping young people speak out when they’re worried about a friend or someone they know.”