Listen Up - Social Welfare Portal

listenup!Case Study 4 | 101this referral period had been experiencing emotionaldifficulties, with half demonstrating self-harmbehaviours. 43% had received a clinical diagnosis,25% were misusing drugs or alcohol and 18% hadeating problems. In addition, 7% of the young peoplewere homeless, 14% were care leavers, 7% wereyoung parents and 11% were young offenders.Referred young people’s details in January– March 200660% of the young people accessing the CaterpillarService were aged 12–16, while 40% were aged 16–21.64% were female, and 36% male. 79% of the youngpeople were of White British origin. One young personwas of Black Caribbean origin, one was of Pakistaniorigin, and one of Black African origin. Three youngpeople (14%) were of mixed ethnic background.What the service offers• hospital based support• fun activities and treats• one-to-one support• group work• support with understanding and dealingwith medication• outreachFamily/carer involvementTo keep the service young person-centred, the CaterpillarService does not involve the families and carers of youngpeople directly in the support that is offered.Current programme prioritiesi. FundingThe project is currently concentrating onobtaining sustainable funding streams.ii. Early interventionPreventative work is one area that the CaterpillarService is keen to develop. The project would liketo be able to do more work with young people tobuild up their emotional resilience and confidence,enabling them to deal productively with issuesbefore they escalate into mental health problems.A new outreach project is being developed alongthese lines with Year 11 children in local schools,offering support as they begin to negotiate thetransition between school and independence.How the project addresses gaps in localservice provisionA scoping exercise carried out in the first six months ofthe project confirmed that the Cardiff area, like muchof Wales, provided little support for young people withmental health problems. The Caterpillar Service aimsto take a person-centred approach that does not viewpeople on the basis of diagnostic criteria.Barriers and constraints which impedeeffective provisionThere is not enough funding available for mentalhealth services for young people, on either a localand national level.Although the project generally has good localrelationships with statutory services, there are stillissues on a national level in reconciling the twocultures. Voluntary sector agencies are trying to betaken more seriously whilst overstretched statutoryservices can be wary of the approaches taken bysome smaller voluntary agencies. This can impact onthe work of the Caterpillar Service.Awareness needs to be raised of the difficulties intransition from youth to adult services, especiallyin appreciating the different situations that youngpeople can face. Listening to what young peoplewant is an essential part of developing effectiveprovision at this transitional time.ContactsCaterpillar ServiceBarnardo’s Marlborough Road Partnership46 Marlborough Road, RoathCardiff, CF23 5BXTelephone: 029 20497531Website: www.barnardos.org.uk/marlboroughroad