'Extra €50m needed to combat youth mental health crisis'
Is Children's Young People Concerned Have A Who Particularly For Diagnosis' 'dual Mittee
The Government needs to “immediately” provide at least an extra €50m to combat the youth mental health crisis, the Oireachtas children’s committee has said.
This money needs to be split between further investment in the HSE’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (Camhs) and community and voluntary organisations.
A new report from the committee highlights the plight of families of a child who has both autism and a mental health issue, with parents detailing “hundreds of cases” of their children being automatically excluded by Camhs.
The accounts show this is happening even in cases of serious suicidal ideation, including cases where the young person has self-harmed and has even “set dates and times for suicide”.
The report said this is “unacceptable” and recommends young people should not be excluded from Camhs simply because they are autistic.
The committee said it is particularly concerned for young people who have a “dual diagnosis” — someone with a mental health issue and either a drug addiction or an intellectual disability, such as autism.
“The time for reports, reconfigurations and pilots for addressing the crisis in youth mental health has long passed,” it said, adding it appears the situation has “regressed”.
It pointed to a recent High Court ruling ordering the HSE to provide an assessment of need for a child with disabilities.
It criticised the HSE’s efforts to recruit and retain staff in mental health and disability services and said wages and work conditions should be “significantly improved”.
The report said the mental wellbeing of children has “plummeted” in recent years.
Its recommendations include:
- An “immediate” top-up funding of €25m, separate to the existing budget, to further implement Sharing the Vision, the Government’s health strategy, published almost four years ago;
- Separate funding of no less than €25m “immediately” for community and voluntary organisations, such as Jigsaw, Pieta, the ISPCC and A Lust for Life, which it said are key to early intervention and prevention;
- The mental health budget should be increased substantially year on year “for the next decade”;
- Changes in hours, pay, and tax to recruit and retain staff in health services, disability services and social services — as recommended in February 2023;
- Strong legal obligations on the State to meet the needs of children;
- Resources expanded to capture those young people whose mental health issues are deemed too severe for Jigsaw but not severe enough for Camhs;
- Legislation to adequately regulate Camhs.
The report said the two existing dual diagnosis services — YoDA and Sassy — both in Dublin should be resourced “to a much greater degree” and expanded around the country.
The HSE does have plans to set up similar services in Cork and Galway.
The committee was very critical of the official line that spending on youth mental health is at an “all-time high” and that “further spending is not required”, pointing out that demand is at an all-time high.
The report added: “Camhs, the service that deals with children on the brink of suicide, and is experiencing unprecedented demand for its services, should be exempt from any ongoing and future recruitment freezes.
“The continued devaluation of health, disability and social services must stop.”