The importance of school based mental health for young people

Youth employment convention

8th & 9th May 2013

Dr Stephen Adams-LangleyRegional Manager, Place2Be

About The Place2Be

• The Place2Be is a national award-winning charity#

• Established in 1994

• Now present in 170 schools nationally, including in Greater Manchester and East Lancashire

• 58,000 children in schools

• 20,000 children reached through training

• Improving children & young peoples mental health and wellbeing

Why The Place2Be is needed

• Over 1 million children in the UK have a mental health problem

• Nearly half of young people with mental health problems drop out of full time education by age 15

• Over 90% of young offenders had a mental health problem in childhood

• 1 in 6 adults have a mental health problem

• The World Health Organisation predicts that depression will be the 2nd largest killer of all parents by 2020

The Place2Be - Area-Wide SolutionFlexible, tailored and cost-effective menu for schools

Peer MentoringTraining

Empowering andenabling

young people

The Place2BeFoundation

CourseTraining for the local community

Bespoke training

programmeSchool cluster

groups18 months

SafeguardingSupport

Advice and guidance for

schools

Themed seminars

School staff and other

professionalgroups

A Place for Counsellors Support for

1 day per week

Parent and Early Years Work

Dedicated therapeutic support

for parents and carers

The Place2Be school-based

service 2 - 4 daysper week

The Place2Be Hub

Advice and support services

School-based services

Training and capacity building

KeyThe

Place2Think for school staff

Advice andsupport

Training courses

for schools and communities

MDS, LMs, TAs

Early intervention to support engagement in school and educational attainment

• A wide range of research shows that poor mental health in children leads to poor concentration on schoolwork, attitudes that don’t help learning, absence from school, drug and tobacco misuse, and poor academic grades (Professor Eric Taylor, Institute of Psychiatry, Oct 2012)

• Longitudinal research has shown very strong predictors from conduct and oppositional disorders in childhood to adolescent problems. The adolescent problems include key barriers to education and employment: substance misuse, delinquency, school non-attendance and (in girls) early pregnancy. (Naylor et al (2012) Long-term conditions and mental health, The King’s Fund) Conduct and oppositional problems can be prevented by early community intervention such as school-based counselling.

• For four educational variables (motivation to attend school, ability to concentrate in class, motivation to study and learn, and willingness to participate in class), around 60 – 70% of clients said that counselling had led to improvements in these areas. For members of teaching staff, the respective figures were 75-90% (Counselling in UK Secondary Schools: A Comprehensive Review of Audit and Evaluation Studies; University of Strathclyde, Cooper, Mick 2009)

Early intervention to support engagement in school and educational attainment

• Research shows the attainment gap widens very quickly between the ages of 7-14 (Goodman et al, 2010) and the biggest effects will be achieved when interventions start in primary school and are sustained into secondary school (Closing the attainment gap in England’s secondary schools, Institute for Public Policy Research, September 2012)

• Prior attainment is the largest predictor of future attainment” (DfE, Oct 2012)

• Only a fifth of the lowest achievers at age 16 go on to acquire any sort of further education or training (Cassen and Kingdon, 2007)

Lessons from research

• “Programmes that have effects, are durable over time, tend to be intensive, multi component, multi level interventions” (Durlak, J, 1995)

• “Taking help to the child/young person, rather than expecting the young person to seek help, is perhaps the single most important lesson that the cumulative nature of risk teaches us” (Baruch, Fonagy and Higgitt, 2007)

Outcomes and Impact 2010/11

•One-to-One Service•Improvements in child’s wellbeing reported by• 71% of parents• 72% of children• 67% of teachers

•Learning and Attainment•- 81% exceeded the standard rate of academic progress in Reading•- 73% exceeded the standard rate of academic progress in Writing•- 66% exceeded the standard rate of academic progress in Maths

•Supporting the whole school•95% of Head teachers say we have ‘improved the school environment.’

•Supporting Parents and carers•96% of parents reported increases in their wellbeing, confidence and social functioning

Contribute to success in schools

• A happy child/young person has the headspace to learn

64% of children referred were underachieving in Reading; after Place2Be intervention, 81% of these improved by at least two National Curriculum sub levels (National sample study, The Place2Be, 2011)

47% of referred children had significant difficulties affecting their learning in the classroom; of these, 60% had a reduced interference on their classroom learning after intervention

(The Place2Be 2010/11 SDQ statistics; Teacher report)

Contributing to Public Policy

Education• Improving attainment, behaviour, discipline, aspiration

• Enabling high quality teaching and leadership

Public Health• Tackling health inequalities by improving access to services

• Delivering better health outcomes by intervening early

Mental Health• Improving access, reducing stigma and discrimination

• Providing positive care/support experiences, leading to recovery

Youth outcomes

Key findings• 1,014 children attended Place2Talk in secondary schools in a total

of 2,999 visits and• 157 children attended one-to-one counselling in a total of 2,163

sessions. • 28 children attended brief counselling and 24 children attended

group work.• A large proportion of children who attended counselling were from

households with low income.• 49% of children were receiving free school meals compared to 16%

of children• In secondary schools in England. 44% were from lone parent

families compared with• 26% of households with dependent children in the UK. 57% of

children had Special Educational Needs.

Risk factors

• Many children were facing difficult circumstances in their home lives: 9.9% were the subject of a Child Protection Plan compared to 0.4% of children in England.

• Children had a high level of social, emotional and behavioural difficulties:

• 60% had difficulties in the abnormal range in comparison to the 10% in a community population.

• 64% of children had difficulties which had a large impact on their classroom learning.

Risk factors

• 98 children completed counselling in 2011/12, 58 of whom had difficulties in the abnormal clinical range (59%).

• 90% of children in the abnormal clinical range had improved difficulties according to teachers, and 75% of children improved according to parents.

• 61% of children in the abnormal range clinically recovered according to teachers,

• moving to the borderline or normal clinical range, and 78% clinically recovered according to parents.

Secondary school service offering

• Integrated school-based provision serving young people across Key Stage 3 (age 11 – 14)

• Embedded in school’s Inclusion / Pastoral Support system

• Head teacher sponsorship with Head of Inclusion day-to-day operational contact

• Early identification (from post-primary transition), targeted and universal support

• Onward referral for specialist support, integrated with systems / support in place for Young People in Key Stage 4

Why stop at Key Stage 3?

• Focus on early intervention – research already makes the case for it

• Stick with Place2Be area of expertise

• Mental health issues of 15-18 year olds are quite different – requiring different skills, expertise, referral networks

• Experts agree that Key Stage 4 is too late to address mental health issues

“The first onset of mental health problems is commonly in childhood or adolescence; half of all lifetime cases have started by the age of 14 years.

Kim-Cohen J et al, ‘Prior juvenile diagnoses in adults with mental disorder: developmental follow-back of a prospective longitudinal cohort’, Archives of General Psychiatry

Place2Be works with young people before they become disengaged with school, thus preventing NEETS

Profile of NEETS*

•30% Free School Meals in Year 11•67% come from single or no parent households•Almost 40% have neither parent in Year 11•93% with 4 or less GCSEs•Some degree of Special Educational Needs (learning difficulties, 13%) •Have a mental health issue 25% (depression / bad nerves; mental illness) •NEET ‘blackspots’

The characteristics of young people who are ‘NEET’ are diverse, although there are some groups that are at greater risk of becoming NEET. This includes, for example, those with few or no qualifications and those with a health problem, disability or low aspirations. DfE, 2012

Profile of children in Place2Be’sTargeted 1:1 interventions (2009 - 11)

• 45% Free School Meals in Years 7-9 • 41% were from lone parent households and 8%

were looked after by a Local Authority• 15% were subject to a Children Protection Plan• 64% had some degree of Special Educational

Needs (SEN); including 5% with a Full Statement of SEN

• 36% of children were from BME groups• 71% of children were in ‘Abnormal / Borderline’

clinical category (vs. 20% of average UK population)

• NEET ‘blackspots’ – some overlap with Place2Be hub areas - North East, North West, Cardiff, areas within London, Glasgow …

* Drivers and Barriers to Educational Success - Evidence from the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England, DfE 2009

Contact details

Dr Stephen Adams-Langley

Stephen.Adams-Langley@place2be.org.uk

07912 097403