CAMHS
Child and Adolescence Mental Health Service (CAMHS) provide children and young people’s mental health services across Sussex.
CAMHS help children and young people, their families and carers when someone is experiencing emotional well-being or mental health difficulties. They provide services across locations, such as GP surgeries, clinics, hospitals and schools, to support young people experiencing mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression, self-harm, eating disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder and psychosis.
All their staff are trained to help children and young people understand why they might be feeling or behaving in a certain way, and support them in their recovery to overcome these difficulties with the most appropriate course of treatment.
At Educate U most of our children have social, emotional and mental health care needs identified as part of their Education and Health Care Plan. We have a number of children and young people who access support from CAMHS.
How could CAMHS help my child?
CAMHS help support good mental health for children and young people and support their families/carers, and their support network, which might include friends, teachers and social workers. Research and feedback from those who use our service tells us that working in this way is more likely to help children and young people get their lives back on track. The needs for each person and family may vary, so CAMHS have different approaches and kinds of support which they can use and tailor to the individual, to make their treatment most suitable for them.
How can my child be referred to CAMHS?
The West Sussex Single Point of Access (SPoA) is a dedicated service which provides a simplified single route to access specialist emotional wellbeing and mental health support. The SPoA team is made up of clinical and administrative staff. They triage (process) all referrals within 72 hours. The SPoA helps direct you to the right service, eliminating the need to refer to multiple services. It might be that CAMHS is not the most appropriate route for a child and the SPoA will refer to another pathway e.g. The adopted children and adolescent mental health service (also known as AdCAMHS) might be a more appropriate pathway for a child or young person.
Anyone can refer via SPoA; children, young people, parents, carers, families, school staff, GPs and other professionals.
Referrals that meet the criteria for SPoA are offered the appropriate treatment and support.
