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19. Children and Young People
Many of the clients with mental health and dependency problems will live in families with children and young people. The impact of these problems on children should not be overlooked and it is likely a range of agencies are involved to protect children and to promote parenting and family life.
There is a significant training need to be addressed throughout agencies on the combined impact of parental substance use and mental health problems on children particularly given the poorer outcomes associated with some current interventions. Getting Our Priorities Right (ref) and Hidden Harm (ref) have led to a considerable development of training and change in attitudes and practice in child protection within substance misuse services working with adults and children. The Framework for Mental Health of Children and Young People s identifies a need for development of specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health Staff with expertise in substance misuse (ref). Training that addresses both needs, that uses common language and approaches, that is inter agency planned, funded, delivered and attended will help engender the joint approach needed for co-occurring mental health and substance misuse problems in young people.. Multi-agency training encourages workers to share/compare their respective roles and promote networking and development of local protocols, particularly in respect of how to respond when children are affected.
There should be recognition of the impact of adult substance misuse on children and of young people's substance use within CAMHS policy and delivery strategies.
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