If children or young people need emotional support, it may help to reach out to people you trust that maybe family, friends, school or college. Schools can play an important role in making sure pupils are made to feel safe in the environment and able to share their views, feelings and worries. They will be able to listen and chat about any concerns that that you may have and find ways to help the situation. 

If needed, further support maybe offered to help children/young people feel better. There will also be support available from a designated school nurse who will run a routine drop-in session at your school. There may be links to mentors, mental health leads or pastoral support workers to help children and young people further. 

Other services you can access that are confidential and free to use

Kooth is a free online counselling and emotional wellbeing platform for young people aged 11-19. Kooth is a safe and anonymous service to support young people’s emotional and mental health. It provides online support through helpful articles, discussion boards and chat facility with Kooth team members.

ChatHealth is a NHS text messaging service for young people across Wolverhampton. 11-19 year olds, can text a school nurse on 07507 332 631 to get confidential advice and support for a range of health and wellbeing issues which including anxiety, emotions, anger, bullying, family issues and friendships. Text: 07507 332 631

Reflexions is a Mental Health Support service that helps children and young people in schools. They work alongside the school’s Mental Health Lead (MHL) and school staff to identify, discuss and plan for your mental health and emotional wellbeing needs such as low mood, exam stress, problems with sleep, low self-esteem and anxiety.  They also have Specialist Education Mental Health Practitioners who are trained to see children and young people for more complex and high intensity treatment. If you or someone you know would like to be referred to the service, please speak to the Mental Health Lead at your school. 

Wysa is an app you can download to chat to an AI Mental Health wellbeing Coach. Access 150+ evidence-based exercises, including resources for anxiety, sleep, handling difficult conversations, improving productivity and more anonymously manage stress and feel better about yourself. Wysa Premium access is FREE for 12-18 year olds. To access 24/7 mental health support with 150+ self-help tools and exercises. You can download Wysa app from either the App Store or Google Play.

Wolverhampton Talking Therapies - age 16 plus offers brief psychological therapy for people experiencing common mental health problems such as low mood, depression, anxiety and stress. You can access the service if you are 16 or over and registered with a GP in Wolverhampton. You can also self-refer to the service.

Social Prescribing service provides a non-medical approach to supporting adults and young people in Wolverhampton to improve their health and wellbeing. The aim is to link people with activities and support in their local communities which might help them to feel better and more connected.

You can be referred into the service by your GP or another professional who knows you.

Wolverhampton Specialist CAMHs service – 0-18 years of age covers a range of services for children, young people with complex, severe or long standing emotional and mental health problems. Supporting young people who are aged between 0-18 years of age and who are registered with a Wolverhampton GP. Each of the specialist services contain a multidisciplinary team that are able to provide a range of therapies and interventions to help service users plan a way forward that is individual to them. 

The service maintains a Single Point of Access (SPA) bringing together Wolverhampton CAMHS services and children's learning disability services across the city. 

At present, young people are referred into the service by a professional who knows what CAMHS offers, and knows the young person. The most common way of getting support in CAMHS is by visiting your GP and discussing a CAMHS referral with them. 

If you have any questions about this, or you are a referrer considering referring a young person, you are welcome to talk to the referral team on 01902 444021.

Inspire support children and young people with a learning disability from birth up to the age of 18 years from Wolverhampton, they also support their families. Inspire supports children with a learning disability. This service is a part of CAMHS service that employs specialist staff who have expertise in working with young people with a learning disability. 

Inspire can offer support with mental health related difficulties, as the Child and Family Service also does, but in addition it is able to support with the following issues where universal (support offered to everyone) or previous input has been unsuccessful and where the issue is related to the young person’s learning disability and their mental and emotional health.

Base 25 work with children and young people up until the age of 18 to support their emotional wellbeing. You can get advice, support depending on your child’s needs. If you want to access the Emotional Wellbeing Services for under 18’s, then a CAMHS referral form will need to be completed and returned to CAMHS. If you want to access any other Base 25 services, then the Base 25 referral form will need to be completed and returned to Base 25.

G.P’s, parents/ carers, schools, CAMH’s, family support worker or any other professional working with your child/ young person can refer to the service. The support offered will be dependent on the needs identified through the support pathway process. They can also support you if you have autism or ADHD.

Help in a crisis

Help in a crisis is for when you feel your mental health is at breaking point, and you need urgent help and support.

For example, you might have feelings or experiences that feel very painful or difficult to manage such as suicidal feelings, self-harm, panic attacks, flashbacks, hypomania or mania, or psychosis (such as paranoia or hearing voices). You might also have other experiences that aren't mentioned here. However, you experience a crisis, it's always ok to ask for help. Contact the service to access the support helpline in a crisis. Also visit the website for more information about services that provide help in crisis support.

Help for Carers

The Carer Support Team - City of Wolverhampton Council

Mental Health Duty Team - City of Wolverhampton Council

Early Intervention Service (EIS) is a specialist community mental health team which work with individuals aged between 14 and 65 years in the three years following the first episode of psychosis. Psychosis is a debilitating illness with far reaching effects for the individual and their family. It can affect all aspects of life: education and employment, relationships and social functioning, physical and mental wellbeing.

Professionals can make a direct referral by telephone, letter or fax, completing the referral form. Anyone can contact the service for advice.

Dynamic Support Register

Dynamic Support Register (DSR) is used within local areas to identify individual children and young people with a learning disability, autism or both who are at risk of admission to a mental health inpatient setting or home/placement breakdown without specific and timely dynamic support. 

The DSR enables all agencies involved in commissioning and delivering care and support to provide timely support for those whose mental health or well-being is deteriorating.

The register is reviewed once monthly and some local areas have weekly DSR meetings to discuss young people who are on the DSR or at risk of being on the DSR. During the DSR meetings this helps key professionals continually evaluate the risk(s) and also progress of the child or young person.

How to access the service 

• Contact the duty team on bchft.ldaduty@nhs.net for any queries regarding a child/young person and information on how to access a referral.
• Consent must be gained by young person or parent/carer if under the age of 16. 
• A recent risk assessment of young person must be added to referral. 
• Referrals to be sent to bchft.ldaduty@nhs.net  - proof of diagnosis must be attached. 
• The service will then review the referral and then get in contact with the professional who completed this and ask them to organise a MDT to discuss further. 
• The professional will then be made aware if the threshold for the DSR has been met, if they are on our DSR they will then require weekly/bi-weekly MDT meetings. 
• If threshold is not met for the DSR then signposting to other services/support will always be offered. 
• You can find more information surrounding the DSR process on NHS England » Dynamic support registers and Care (Education) and Treatment Review code of practice

How to give a compliment or compliant about the service

Our aim is to provide the best possible care and treatment to our service users and to help us do that, we welcome feedback from you, your family and carers. 

The Service Experience Desk (SED) is the central point of contact for all concerns and enquiries, whether these are formal or informal, compliments, suggests or complaints. 

SED are available to contact Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm.

• 0800 587 7720
• sed.bchft@nhs.net

Where you can find us

The Learning Disability and Autism (LDA) Dynamic Support Register is managed via the LDA Commissioning, Case management and Keyworker team. 

The LDA team have a remote offer based in individuals homes, schools, hospital (wherever the need is).
Duty email - bchft.ldaduty@nhs.net

Useful related links

• Black Country 0-18 years Online Health Resource provides parents, carers and young people across the Black Country with consistent and high-quality advice from local health professionals. There is advice for every stage, from pregnancy and birth all the way through to nursery, school, and beyond. Emotional issues such as moods and anxiety advice and support are also included.
• NHS Mental Health
• Young Minds
• Mental Health Foundation
• MIND
• SANE
• Royal College of Psychiatrists
• Counselling Directory
• Childline is a national charity offering support to children and young people who have any kind of worries that they want to talk about.
• The Samaritans is a national charity offering support to anyone who needs to talk or those concerned about the emotional wellbeing of another person.
• PAPYRUS is a national organisation which aims to prevent suicide in young people. They offer a information on their website and a ‘Hopeline’ for young people up to the age of 35 who may be feeling suicidal.

Bereavement

• Compton Care offer a service for children and young people who have suffered bereavement. They can also support families of young people who are facing complex or incurable illnesses.
• Cruse Bereavement Care is a national charity offering telephone, email, face to face or peer group support to adults or children who have lost someone close.
• Winston’s Wish supports children and young people who have experienced a bereavement.