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Forensic child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS)
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About the service
The forensic CAMHS team works closely with CAMHS and other agencies to provide specialist consultation, assessment and intervention for forensic concerns or complex presentations in children and young people. Referrals to the team are generally prompted by concerns about potential risks that may include problems with harmful sexual behaviour (HSB), violence and aggression, harm towards animals, fire setting or other complex presentations.
The team
The team is made up of professionals who come from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines including psychology, social work, nursing and psychiatry. By working alongside other agencies and providers, the team is able to greatly enhance safe working practices. This is particularly important in cases where young people may be particularly vulnerable or present with highly complex needs and risks.
The young people accessing the service present with highly complex needs and associated risks with a complex history and background including those who have experienced trauma and/or abuse.
The team provides the following services:
Focus CAMHS (secure estate: Adel Beck secure children’s estate and Wetherby Young Offenders’ Institute)
The focus team provides a forensic pathway at Adel Beck and a harmful sexual behaviour (HSB) pathway at Wetherby Young Offenders’ Institute (YOI) as an integrated part of the whole healthcare offer. We work closely with both the establishments and wider partner agencies including youth offending services to support bespoke packages of care that meet children’s needs.
Our approach ensures the individual histories and circumstances of the child are considered and aim to understand their presenting behaviour in that context. This approach enables robust formulation, risk assessment, recommendations and interventions; where required.
The delivery of HSB intervention is determined by a range of factors including the child’s risk of harm and vulnerability.
We accept referrals due to concerning or problematic behaviour, along with those for which young people may have been formally convicted. Referrals to the service can be made by any agency, parent or child who is currently residing in Adel Beck or Wetherby YOI.
You can also download the following leaflets for more information:
- Focus CAMHS Adel Beck – a leaflet for professionals
- Focus CAMHS Wetherby YOI – a leaflet for professionals
Focus CAMHS (Wakefield)
The focus CAMHS Wakefield service provides support to young people who have mental health problems or who may be in contact with the criminal justice system in relation to harmful sexual behaviour, as part of an integrated CAMHS offer. The team works closely with professionals from local partner organisations in health and social care fields, as well as the Wakefield youth development support service.
The team provides a consultation service as well as undertaking assessments and interventions in relation to harmful sexual behaviour. The team is also part of the multi-agency harmful sexual behaviour panel for Wakefield, ensuring children receive the most appropriate level of support from the district.
The service uses an established evidenced based pathway ensuring the individual histories and circumstances of the child are considered and aim to understand their presenting behaviour within that context. This approach enables robust formulation, risk assessment, recommendations and interventions; where required. The delivery of HSB intervention is determined by a range of factors including the child’s risk of harm and vulnerability.
We accept referrals due to concerning or problematic behaviour, along with those for which young people may have been formally convicted.
Yorkshire and Humber forensic CAMHS (FCAMHS)
Yorkshire and Humber FCAMHS is a regional service. To ensure local expertise, our Trust works in partnership with three other NHS Trusts to deliver the service.
Our service is available to young people under the age of 18 living across the region, where there are questions regarding mental health or neurodisability who:
- Present with high risk of harm towards others and about whom there is major family or professional concern
- And/or are in contact with the criminal justice system
- Or are likely to enter secure care due to behaviour/presentation that can’t be managed elsewhere.
Examples of presentations which may prompt you to refer to our service include: violent behaviours, arson/fire-setting, harmful sexual behaviour which occurs in conjunction with other risk related behaviour, animal cruelty or other complex high risk behaviours which place the young person or others at risk of significant harm.
The service is community-based, and will also become involved with young people and their professional group to support transitions both in to, and out of, secure care (hospital settings, secure welfare environments and custodial settings).
The multi-disciplinary team offers a consultation service, as well as undertaking assessments and interventions in relation to various forensic and/complex presentations.
This service has its own website.
You can also download the following leaflets for more information:
- Yorkshire and Humber forensic CAMHS – a leaflet for professionals
- Yorkshire and Humber forensic CAMHS – a leaflet for young people
- Yorkshire and Humber forensic CAMHS – an easy read leaflet for young people
Why would someone choose the service?
We are flexible in our approach to care, and all of our contact with children and young people in the community is in settings that they feel comfortable in. We ensure that they feel safe and secure, and treat them with dignity and respect at all times.
The team regularly seeks feedback from those accessing the service and consistently receives high levels of satisfaction.
Staff you may meet
- Administrative staff provide essential support to doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals. This can be in a variety of different settings, with administrators working as a receptionist in a clinic or a clerk on a ward. They may also be working closely with a consultant as a medical secretary.
- There are more than 60 different specialities that doctors work within the NHS. Each is unique but there are many characteristics which are common. Roles range from working in a hospital to being based in the community as a GP.
- There are many people who work behind the scenes to keep services running and you may meet them in hospital or community settings. They include porters, cleaners, plumbers, electricians, decorators receptionists and secretaries who all work to make sure healthcare settings are kept clean, tidy and safe.
- Nurses who choose to specialise in the mental health branch of nursing work with GPs, psychiatrists, psychologists, and others, to help care for patients. Increasingly, care is given in the community, with mental health nurses visiting patients and their families at home, in residential centres, in prisons or in specialist clinics or units.
- The NHS employs a wide range of clinical staff, it wouldn’t be possible to list them all on this website! All our clinical staff are skilled, dedicated professionals who adhere to high standards of training and work-place practice.
- Adult psychotherapists work with people to assess and treat a range of emotional, social or mental health issues. They help people tackle problems such as behavioural issues, common challenges such as anxiety and depression or more complex or severe issues, such as psychosis or a personality disorder diagnosis.
- Social workers help, support and protect people who are facing difficulties in their lives. They help people to take positive steps to overcome problems and improve their lives. This could involve assessing and reviewing a service user’s situation, building relationships with service users and their families and agreeing what practical support someone needs.
Why a professional should choose the service
Our team of clinicians are highly specialised in helping and supporting young people engaging in high risk behaviours.
By working closely with local partners, we are able to offer a timely response to referrals, with referrers being contacted within 72 hours of referral. Within the secure estate all referrals are triaged within seven days.
We complete an annual internal audit to promote planning and quality amongst our staff.
Support offered
The team offers a consultative service where consultations may lead to assessments and interventions in individual cases. A range of assessments are offered by the team and are decided upon on a case-by-case basis.
This may involve the use of clinical tools such as SAVRY (structured assessment of violence risk in youth), AIM (assessment tntervention and moving-on) and J-SOAP (juvenile sex offender assessment protocol).
In complex cases, more comprehensive assessments are offered and may include the use of several forensic mental health assessment tools. In some cases, this will also include assessment and screening for, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or autism spectrum conditions (ASC); amongst other things.
Interventions offered by the team are often done in collaboration with other local agencies and professionals.
Outcomes
We aim to support all children and young people we are working with and help to understand and reduce any potential risks they may face or pose.
Referrals accepted from:
A & E, AHPs, Consultants, Courts, Drug/alcohol agencies, GP staff, GPs, Health visitors, Hospital staff, Local authority staff, Midwives, Other NHS services, Police, Single Point of Access team, Youth Offending Team
Referrals also accepted from:
Social services
Referral criteria:
Referrals are accepted from all agencies working with children and young people. Within the secure estate, we also accept referrals directly from young people.
Referrals to the team may be prompted by concerns in relation to risks that may include (but are not restricted to) harmful sexual behaviour, harm to animals, fire-setting, violence or aggression.
If you would like more information about the service referral criteria, please do not hesitate to contact the team.