Mental health and wellbeing - Print version

Mental health and wellbeing information for parents of children and young people with Special Educational Needs

Over the last few years, mental health and well-being has become a prominent area of difficulty for children and young people, as well as the impact this can have on those around them; in 2022 figures estimated that around 1 in 6 children & young people have a recognised mental health difficulty. This affects many children and young people with other recognised Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, which often compounds their difficulties, both academically and socially.

Over the following pages you can find out about a range of agencies that are available to support children and young people's mental health.

DfE Guidance - mental health and behaviour

The Department for Education offer advice regarding behaviour and bullying [http://www.education.gov.uk/aboutdfe/advice/f0076899/preventing-and-tackling-bullying], which you may find useful. They have produced guidance on commonly asked questions regarding bullying, including details of where to get help, for pupils, parents and teaching professionals.

Download the DfE Guidance "Mental Health and Behaviour in Schools". [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mental-health-and-behaviour-in-schools--2]

The Mental Capacity Act and supported decision making

Preparing for Adulthood (PfA) have worked in partnership with the Transition Information Network (TIN), the Information Advice and Support Services Network (IASSN) and Making Ourselves Heard (MOH) to develop this factsheet. They have considered the practical implications of the key principles of the Mental Capacity Act and how they link with the duties in the Children and Families Act 2014 and the Care Act. Through working with young people they have explored how supported decision making can create positive outcomes for them as they prepare for adulthood as well as considering how they would want to be supported. 

• Mental Capacity Act Code of Practice [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mental-capacity-act-code-of-practice]

Children out of School due to long-term Mental Health difficulties

If your child has not been able to attend school due to long-term mental health difficulties, in the first instance make an appointment with your Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO) in your school, to discuss what support can be provided.  See the following guidance which includes the Coventry approach to Early Support:

https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/file/37366/senco-guide-for-extended-non-attendance-in-schools-early-support [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/file/37366/senco-guide-for-extended-non-attendance-in-schools-early-support]

Extended School Non-Attendance Advisory Panel (ESNAAP) [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/attendance-inclusion/extended-school-non-attendance-advisory-panel-esnaap]

In cases, where despite early support being provided, the young person’s situation has shown no or only limited improvement, schools may refer the young person’s case to the Extended School Non-Attendance Advisory Panel (ESNAAP).

ESNAAP [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/attendance-inclusion/extended-school-non-attendance-advisory-panel-esnaap] is made up of professionals from Coventry’s SEND team, Attendance and Children Missing Education (CME) team, the Education Psychology Service and the Hospital Education Service.  The panel meet once a month to review each referral and consider the most appropriate support. After each meeting, a member of the panel will feedback the outcomes of their discussion to the school together with a recommended course of action. This may be signposting to additional resources and support, or in the most complex cases, a short-term intervention from the Hospital Education Service.

Hospital Education Service

The Hospital Education Service [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/hospital-education-service] is a Transition Service with three key provisions:

1. Hospital school at University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire
2. Home tuition service
3. Pupil referral unit based at Whitmore Park Annexe

Pupils are referred to this service in the following ways (as indicated in the admissions criteria via the Hospital Education Service Referral Pathways webpage [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/hospital-education-service/referral-pathways]):

• By a hospital consultant following a child’s discharge from hospital due to injury or surgery
• By a CAMHS consultant recommending a period of intervention
• By medical professionals following a child’s discharge from a Tier 4 provision
• Via the Extended School Non-Attendance Advisory Panel (ESNAAP)

Guidance, organisations and contacts

The following is an overview of information and support relating to Mental Health (0-25) in Coventry. This information is also available to download in PDF format [https://www.covsendiass.co.uk/downloads/download/21/sendiass-mental-health-information-sheet].

Coventry Local Agencies

Coventry Rise 

Coventry’s Rise [http://cwrise.com/] team is made up of a number of different services, each led by mental health specialists, who work with other local services such as schools to support you.

The services that come under the Rise family are:

1. Dimensions [https://cwrise.com/dimensions-tool]
2. Mental Health in Schools Teams [https://cwrise.com/mhst]
3. Primary Mental Health Teams [https://cwrise.com/primary-mental-health]
4. Targeted Emotional and Mental Health Support [https://cwrise.com/compass-shine]
5. Looked After Children (LAC) [https://cwrise.com/lac]
6. Specialist Mental Health Services [https://cwrise.com/what-is-camhs]
7. Eating Disorders [https://cwrise.com/eating-disorders-rise]
8. Neurodevelopmental Service (conditions such as Autism and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) [https://cwrise.com/neurodevelopment-service]
9. Crisis and Home Treatment Team [https://cwrise.com/crisis-and-home-treatment-team]
10. Learning Disabilities (LD) [https://cwrise.com/learning-disabilities]

Most RISE services require a referral made to the ‘RISE Navigation Hub’. The majority of RISE services, are only able to currently accept referrals for children and young people who are aged up to 17 years, from professionals who are involved with or working with the young person and/or family, e.g. GPs, Schools, Social Care, School nurses, Health visitors.
Contact the RISE navigation hub [https://cwrise.com/contact-us]

Dimensions of Health and Wellbeing    

Dimensions of Health and Wellbeing is a free, online tool providing self-care information to support adults, children and young people in Coventry and Warwickshire. Self-care information is tailored to a person’s own needs and the challenges they face and is available 24/7.

• Use Dimensions [https://dimensions.covwarkpt.nhs.uk/Default.aspx]
• View a video about how Dimensions can support you. [https://www.youtube.com/embed/VtGnQnOfb7o]

More information

• Adult Dimensions [https://dimensions.covwarkpt.nhs.uk/News.aspx?NID=28]
• Child Dimensions [https://dimensions.covwarkpt.nhs.uk/News.aspx?NID=27]
• Dimensions tool Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) [https://dimensions.covwarkpt.nhs.uk/News.aspx?NID=36]

If you have any feedback on the tool contact: dimensions@covwarkpt.nhs.uk [mailto:dimensions@covwarkpt.nhs.uk]

The Primary Mental Health Team (PMHT)   

The Primary Mental Health service [http://cwrise.com/primary-mental-health] gives general advice, guidance, consultation and group training for those who work with children, such as school-linked professionals or social care roles. They help children and young people who may be displaying signs of emotional distress and emerging mental health difficulties by working with those around the child, such as teachers in order to put in place plans to manage issues and stop them becoming more serious.

Referrals should be submitted to the ‘Navigation Hub’ information on how to refer can be found via the 'Primary Mental Health Service' page of the RISE website [https://cwrise.com/primary-mental-health].

Rise Mental Health in Schools Teams (MHST)  

The Mental Health in Schools Team is a service consisting of qualified and trainee Educational and Specialist Mental Health Practitioners (EMHPs). Working across Coventry and Warwickshire, they work with Schools to provide low-intensity mental health interventions and support, through a ‘whole school approach’ in order to support positive emotional wellbeing and mental health. They can also work with children and young people in groups or on a one-to-one basis.

For more information about the MHST visit the MHST page of the RISE website. [https://cwrise.com/mhst/]

Rise CLA (MH) Team Coventry (Children Looked After)

The service is an integrated mental health service for Children Looked After (CLA) also known as Looked After Children (LAC). In Coventry the service is called 'Rise CLA (MH) Team Coventry'  [https://cwrise.com/lac]

The focus is on supporting social workers and carers to improve the young person's mental health and wellbeing, as well as undertaking specialist assessment and intervention where required.

Referrals should be sent to the navigation hub and completed by a professional who is involved with or working with the young person and/or family, e.g. GPs, Schools, Social Care, School nurses, Health visitors.

CAMHS – ‘Child and Adolescent

Mental Health Services’ 

CAMHS [http://cwrise.com/what-is-camhs] is an NHS service that is part of the ‘Core Specialist Mental Health Services’. They assess and treat young people (up to their 18th birthday) with emotional, behavioural or mental health difficulties including;

• depression
• problems with food
• self-harm abuse
• violence or anger
• bipolar disorder
• schizophrenia and anxiety

*This is not an exhaustive list, see the webpage for more information

The people who work within Rise have had specialist training in the way young people think and feel and know how to help them feel better. They will see children/young people accompanied by their parents/carers or on their own if that is preferred.

Referrals should be sent to the navigation hub and completed by a professional who is involved with or working with the young person and/or family, e.g. GPs, Schools, Social Care, School nurses, Health visitors.

The Neurodevelopmental Service (Children’s) 

The Neurodevelopmental Service [http://cwrise.com/neurodevelopment] works with children and young people from pre-school up to 17 years of age. It is a specialist service consisting of highly skilled multidisciplinary team responsible for the assessment and diagnosis of neurodevelopmental disorders including:

• Autism Spectrum Condition(ASC)
• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

The service is tailored to meet the needs of children and young people with these disorders and to improve the child/young person’s life chances by reducing/preventing co morbid acute mental health problems e.g. anxiety.

Referrals are usually completed via a relevant professional such as School SENCo or a GP.

You can also access pre-assessment and post-diagnosis resources via RISE [https://cwrise.com/parent-and-carer-resources].

Community Autism Support Service (CASS)

CASS [https://casspartnership.org.uk/] offers support to those with an autism diagnosis, those awaiting an autism assessment, or those who may self-identify as autistic and are living in Coventry or Warwickshire.

The ‘all-age’ autism support service provides support using a single ‘front door’ approach via a single phone number and dedicated website.

Support is offered through a collaborative partnership with Coventry and Warwickshire Mind [https://cwmind.org.uk/], Act for Autism [https://actforautism.co.uk/home-2/] and Autism West Midlands [https://www.autismwestmidlands.org.uk/]. The team will help with emotional support, and based on individual needs they can signpost, provide information and, if required, identify further personalised support.    

RISE: Specialist Eating Disorders Team   

The RISE Specialist Eating Disorders Team [https://cwrise.com/eating-disorders-children/] work in collaboration with children, young people and their families or carers to offer specialist assessment and treatment provision in order to restore both physical and psychological wellbeing.

The team works with children and young people with eating disorders, such as Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, or Binge Eating disorder offering supportive therapies focused on the eating disorder as recommended by the NICE guidelines.

The All Age Disability Team   

The All Age Disability Service [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/info/78/care_and_support/2279/all_age_disability] works alongside people with disabilities of all ages and their family carers to support their personal, social care and health outcomes. The service is split into two teams, one for children and young people aged 0-17 [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/care-support/age-disability/2] and a team working with adults aged 18 [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/care-support/age-disability/3]+. The service offers information and advice to everyone. If your child is aged 0-5 you may be eligible for support from the  Early Support Team [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/special-educational-needs-disabilities/early-support-children-5-disabilities]. Referrals for 0-17 year olds should be made through Coventry MASH Email: mash@coventry.gov.uk [mailto:mash@coventry.gov.uk] Tel: 024 7678 8555

The children and young people team also support children and young people with mental health issues. For adults aged 18 and over support is provided by Adult Mental Health Services [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/mental-health/adult-mental-health-services]. Referrals can be made through professionals such as GP’s and District Nurses. Adults aged 18+ with a disability can refer themselves or a family member can contact Social care on their behalf.

Tel: Adult Social Care Direct on 024 7683 3003.

Kooth  

Kooth [http://www.kooth.com/] is a safe, and confidential way for young people to access emotional wellbeing and early intervention mental health support. The service will be available to all young people across Coventry aged 11-25 years.

MIND - Coventry and Warwickshire 

Coventry and Warwickshire Mind [https://cwmind.org.uk/mind-in-coventry-warwickshire/] aim to increase awareness and understanding of mental health issues within the local community. It provides a range of services for people experiencing mental ill-health including drop-in centres, well-being courses, counselling, self-help tools, therapeutic work, and befriending services amongst others. There are a number of services for children through to adults.

Coventry Family Hubs  

The family hubs [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/familyhubs] offer help and support to families, children and young people. They will help you find and get help from different services in the area and will be able to give you information, advice and support. There will also be a range of services available for all (e.g. adult education classes) and some specifically for those in greatest need.

Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT)  

IAPT services [http://www.covwarkpt.nhs.uk/iapt/] are for people (aged 16 and over) with mild, moderate and moderate to severe symptoms of anxiety or depression living in Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire (who are not already under the care of specialist mental health services).

IAPT offer services for those experiencing mental health difficulties such as stress, anxiety, low mood or depression, where this is affecting the young person or adult doing everyday things, like working and going out.

IAPT can be accessed via self-referral.

They also have a range of ‘self-help guides’ on their webpage that can be downloaded.

The Neurodevelopmental Service (Adults)  

The Adult Neurodevelopmental Service [https://www.covwarkpt.nhs.uk/service-detail/health-service/neurodevelopmental-service-adult-760/] is an assessment and diagnostic service for people who are over 17 years of age, with neurodevelopmental disorders such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). To be eligible for this service you should have no known learning disabilities and should not currently be under the care of Acute or Community Mental Health Services.

Referrals are completed via the GP. A diagnosis can help you identify your unique strengths and abilities, rather than seeing your differences as difficulties. It will also help you access support so you can manage the difficulties you experience. Following a diagnosis they offer group and/or individual support and signposting beyond the service.

 

Coventry and Warwickshire Mental Health Wellbeing Line  

'Wellbeing for Warwickshire': Coventry and Warwickshire Mental Health Wellbeing Line [https://wellbeingforwarwickshire.org.uk/is-this-right-for-me/] aims to help people before crisis. This is a non-clinical service. The service offers connection, advice, information and signposting to other services.

Compass Coventry 

Compass [https://www.compass-uk.org/services/compass-coventry-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-service/] support children and young people from 5 to 18 years, and up to 25, if they have Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) or are a Care Leaver. They also support parents, carers and professionals who are worried about a child or young person’s mental wellbeing. Compass provide self-help resources, information & advice, 1:1 or group intervention, counselling and family-based support. Supporting children & young people understand the issues they are struggling with, provide strategies to cope and achieve positive mental wellbeing.

Compass Coventry can support with issues such as:

• Low mood
• Mild to moderate anxiety
• Body image
• Eating difficulties
• Bullying & peer relationships
• Family conflict
• Difficulty managing change
• Parental divorce, separation
• Bereavement or loss
• Managing strong emotions

Visit their webpage to find out more and complete a ‘request for support form’. 

Please note, compass currently only accept direct requests for support from young people  (16+), parents and carers and Early Help professionals. If you are a professional and would like to complete a request for support, please continue to refer into RISE Navigation Hub [https://cwrise.com/] 

Guidance, organisations and contacts - Other useful Information / Agencies / Links / Apps

Healios  

Healios [http://www.healios.org.uk/clinical-care-service/] is a partner of the NHS, offering support and services through therapies and interventions designed to support your needs, for mild or moderate mental health difficulties including problems with sleep, feeling low, anxiety, or neurodiverse conditions.

The care team can also provide specialist assessments, diagnosis, support and interventions for those with Autism and ADHD conditions. Access to the service is by referral through CAHMS or a GP.

 

BEAT (Beating Eating Disorders)  

B-eat [https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/], the eating disorders charity, provides information, help, up to date advice and support for both people experiencing an eating disorder and their carers.

Beat is a member of Language Line and can provide access to an interpreter for non-English speaking callers.

YoungMinds 

YoungMinds [http://youngminds.org.uk/] is an independent national charity and is not part of the NHS at all. It offers support and advice around mental health concerns of children and young people, up to the age of 25, directly and to their parent/carers, and professionals. Support includes advice and information on the webpage, training courses (for adults), programmes of support, helplines, webchat, top tips, and help and guidance on accessing services.

Parents helpline and webchat page  [https://www.youngminds.org.uk/parent/parents-helpline-and-webchat/]

NHS Services and Support 

Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust (NHS) [http://www.covwarkpt.nhs.uk/] have some useful information on their website providing details and contact information for NHS Mental Health Services, including ‘Urgent all-age Mental Health Support’ and support organisations.

Mental Health Foundation  

The Mental Health Foundation website [http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/] has a range of information about mental health to help you to look after yours, and your families mental health needs, including; podcasts, videos, stories and an A-Z help guide offering information about different mental health conditions, and advice around the types of support available. The A-Z help guide includes pages for ADHD and ASC.

MindEd

MindEd [http://mindedforfamilies.org.uk/] offers online advice and support for parents/carers concerned about their child or young persons mental health. MindEd provide advice and information from experts to support you and your family.

The site includes information, tips, advice and details of possible organisations that can help.

Kidscape 

Kidscape [http://www.kidscape.org.uk/] provide support, resources, and advice across all ages to challenge bullying and protect young lives. They also offer adult training sessions and their ZAP programmes (for children aged 9+). They have a parent’s advice line, open to parents of children/young people of all ages.

Parent Advice Line Information [https://www.kidscape.org.uk/advice/parent-advice-line/]

Coventry Parenting Courses

Coventry parenting team have a range of parenting courses for families in Coventry with several targeted for parents/carers of children with SEND. The offer ranges from targeted parenting interventions such as Family Links Nurturing programmes/Triple P/'Stepping Stones' Triple P (for SEND), and online workshops. Online workshops are designed for parents to complete at a time that suits them and can be translated into different languages. 

For details of how to access the courses and/or to find out more about the range of courses available, visit the Coventry Positive Parenting Team webpage [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/children-families/positive-parenting] for Coventry residents.

The Recovery and Wellbeing Academy Workshops   

The Recovery and Wellbeing Academy [https://www.recoveryandwellbeing.co.uk/] is not a School, College or Academy in the traditional sense of the word, you don’t need to be academically minded to attend and there are no tests, exams or assessments. The Academy offers a wide range of courses and workshops designed to empower your mental health and wellbeing provided by a number of Partner organisations working together. Courses are delivered face to face and online via Zoom.

All Academy courses and workshops are completely FREE OF CHARGE and open to anyone over the age of 18 living in Coventry and Warwickshire who wants to better manage or understand their mental health and wellbeing. Friends, family, staff, and carers are encouraged to attend as we strongly believe in learning together to get the most out of the courses on offer.

Guidance / organisations - Crisis Services

RISE Crisis Team 

The Rise Crisis & Home Treatment team (Coventry & Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust) [http://cwrise.com/crisis-and-home-treatment-team/] provide multi-disciplinary support to children and young people (under 18s) who present in a mental health crisis. For urgent calls, for children and young people who are experiencing a mental health crisis contact the Rise Crisis team.

You can view 'The Rise Crisis & Home Treatment team leaflet' via the website link above.

Coventry and Warwickshire

Mental Health Access Hubs  

The Coventry and Warwickshire Mental Health Access Hubs [https://wellbeingforwarwickshire.org.uk/is-this-right-for-me/] will explore and triage the nature of your crisis with you and, if appropriate, will make arrangements for a clinician to meet with you.

The team comprises a range of experienced NHS staff and clinicians with specific expertise in crisis and de-escalation interventions. 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a week.

Safe Haven Coventry and Warwickshire 

Safe Haven Coventry and Warwickshire [https://cwsafehaven.org.uk/] offer out-of-hours, friendly, non-clinical crisis support every day between 6pm-11pm for adults aged 16+

Samaritans   

The Samaritans [https://www.samaritans.org/branches/coventry/] provide confidential, caring emotional support, 24 hours a day for people who have feelings of distress or despair, including those which could lead to suicide.

National helpline [https://www.samaritans.org/branches/coventry/](24 hours a day, 365 days a year) 

Coventry Samaritans  [https://www.samaritans.org/branches/coventry/]

YoungMinds 

YoungMinds [http://youngminds.org.uk/] is an independent national charity and is not part of the NHS at all. It offers support and advice around mental health concerns of children and young people, up to the age of 25, directly and to their parent/carers, and professionals. Support includes advice and information on the webpage, training courses (for adults), programmes of support, helplines, webchat, top tips, and help and guidance on accessing services.

Parents helpline and webchat page  [https://www.youngminds.org.uk/parent/parents-helpline-and-webchat/]

‘Young Minds Crisis Messenger service’: text YM to 85258

Childline 

Childline [https://www.childline.org.uk/] is available to help anyone under 19 in the UK with any issue they’re going through. You can talk about anything. Whether it’s something big or small, they have trained counsellors to support you.

Childline is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Bullying information

Bullying is an issue that affects many children and young people at some point in their lives, and can take many different forms. All educational establishments should have a behaviour/bullying process which should be followed and is normally the first step in tackling the issue if it involves others within education.

SEND IASS is limited in the information/support that they can offer around bullying, particularly around individual cases. However, we have tried to identify below a number of organisations who have a firm focus on bullying as part of their service offer. 

Anti-Bullying Alliance (ABA)

Parents/Carers

The Anti-Bullying Alliance isn't able to deal with individual cases. However, there are lots of places that parents and carers are able to go to for information and advice about bullying issues.  Visit the Anti Bullying Alliance website [http://www.anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/tools-information/advice-parents] for further information.

The Anti-Bullying Alliance also have a free online Anti-Bullying information tool for parents/carers [http://www.anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/tools-information/advice-parents/interactive-anti-bullying-tool-parents]. The tool is interactive and designed to give parents and carers information about bullying.  The tool will help you as a parent if you:

• are concerned that your child may be vulnerable to bullying at school.
• are worried that your child might be being bullied.
• are aware that your child is being bullied.
• think or know that your child is bullying others.
• just want to browse.

Children and young people

If you think you are being bullied it's important that you tell someone you trust for example a relative, a teacher or another trusted adult. If you need help or advice about bullying there are helplines and websites that can provide you with information and support. Visit the Anti Bullying Alliance website [http://www.anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/tools-information/if-youre-being-bullied] for further details.

'Contact: for families with disabled children' 

'Contact: for families with disabled children' has produced a guide to dealing with bullying: for parents of disabled children [https://contact.org.uk/help-for-families/information-advice-services/education-start/education-learning/bullying/helping-your-child-respond-to-bullying/] available from their website.

Cyberbullying

For more information and advice around bullying including cyberbullying visit:

• Safekids [http://www.safekids.co.uk/cyber-bullying-facts-how-prevent-it.html]
• Kidscape [https://www.kidscape.org.uk/]
• Anti-bullying Alliance [http://www.anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/]