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Children's Rights Alliance awards Gov't a D- in Mental Health

The Children's Rights Alliance released their 'Report Card 2010' yesterday, which looks at health, safety, and mental health services for under-18s.

In the wider 'Health' category, the Government got an ‘E’ grade, while in the mental health subcategory it "Made some small improvements in child and adolescent mental health but delivery on targets is still seriously behind and progress is painfully slow."

Some of the more attention-grabbing findings:

• By mid-2009 just €29.5 million of the total of €51.2 million allocated to delivering 'A Vision for Change' mental health strategy in 2006/07 had been spent. 
• There were 3,117 children waiting to be seen by a Child and Adolescent Mental Health team in 2008, of these, 897 children were waiting over a year.
• Only 30 of the promised 100 in-patient mental health beds for children and adolescents were delivered by April 2009.

The report also said that services focused on prevention and well-being are key to improvement:

"While the Government has not yet met its targets in this area – and its performance is still considered ‘barely acceptable’ – there are welcome signs of commitment and drive behind the scenes. But still, despite widespread acknowledgment that early intervention is essential, child and adolescent mental health services in Ireland operate in crisis mode."

Hopefully ReachOut.com is part of the positive push here.  We'd like to think that we're part of a movement toward helping people prioritise their mental health and well-being, and find the info, services and help that's right for them should they need it.

What do you think about the government getting a D- in young people's mental health?  What do you want to see done differently and what would you change?

• 26 Jan 2010 10:08 AM |
• Posted by: Ianb in

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clinical

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health services