Delivering specialist care to children and young people involved with youth justice services during the COVID-19 pandemic
Intended for healthcare professionals
Evidence and practice    

Delivering specialist care to children and young people involved with youth justice services during the COVID-19 pandemic

Philip John Archard Mental health practitioner, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service, Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust, Leicester, England
Alexander Levy Forensic psychologist, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service, Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust, Leicester, England
Stevie-Jade Hardy Evidence and evaluation lead, Violence Reduction Network, Leicester, England
Craig Griffiths Clinical psychologist, Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust, Leicester, England
Kayleigh Lord Community psychiatric nurse-clinical team leader, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service, Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust, Leicester, England
Jeanette Bowlay-Williams Consultant clinical psychologist-clinical director, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service, Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust, Leicester, England

Why you should read this article:
  • To better understand the challenges involved in the delivery of mental healthcare to children and young people involved with youth justice services

  • To enhance your knowledge of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on specialist child and adolescent mental health services

  • To reflect on ways in which face-to-face, remote and digitally delivered care can be combined when working alongside young people involved in offending and their families and carers

During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) have had to respond to increased psychological distress while shifting to digital and remote forms of service delivery. This article provides some reflections on the provision of mental healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic to children and young people affected by adverse childhood experiences and involved with youth justice services.

The reflections are drawn from the authors’ experience as clinicians and researchers staffing and supporting a project based in an NHS specialist CAMHS team. They detail a range of challenges which have emerged during the pandemic in combining remote and direct means of service delivery and in providing support to children and young people and their surrounding networks of families, professionals, and informal or professional carers.

Mental Health Practice. doi: 10.7748/mhp.2021.e1571

Peer review

This article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software

Correspondence

philip.archard@leicspart.nhs.uk

Conflict of interest

None declared

Archard PJ, Levy A, Hardy S-J et al (2021) Delivering specialist care to children and young people involved with youth justice services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mental Health Practice. doi: 10.7748/mhp.2021.e1571

Published online: 28 September 2021

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