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Young people transitioning from child to adult mental health services are frequently also known to social services, but the role of such services in this study and their interplay with mental healthcare system lacks evidence in the European panorama. This study aims to gather information on the characteristics and the involvement of social services supporting young people approaching transition.

A survey of 16 European Union countries was conducted. Country respondents, representing social services’ point of view, completed an ad hoc questionnaire. Information sought included details on social service availability and the characteristics of their interplay with mental health services.

Service availability ranges from a low of 3/100,000 social workers working with young people of transition age in Spain to a high 500/100,000 social workers in Poland, with heterogeneous involvement in youth health care. Community-based residential facilities and services for youth under custodial measures were the most commonly type of social service involved. In 80% of the surveyed countries, youth protection from abuse/neglect is overall regulated by national protocols or written agreements between mental health and social services, with the exception of Czech Republic and Greece, where poor or no protocols apply. Lack of connection between child and adult mental health services has been identified as the major obstacles to transition (93.8%), together with insufficient involvement of stakeholders throughout the process.

Marked heterogeneity across countries may suggest weaknesses in youth mental health policy-making at the European level. Greater inclusion of relevant stakeholders is needed to inform the development and implementation of person-centered health-care models. Disconnection between child and adult mental health services is widely recognized in the social services arena as the major barrier faced by young service users in transition; this “outside” perspective provides further support for an urgent re-configuration of services and the need to address unaligned working practices and service cultures.

This is the first survey gathering information on social service provision at the time of mental health services transition at a European level; its findings may help to inform services to offer a better coordinated social health care for young people with mental health disorders.

The European Union‐supported Child and Adolescent Mental Health in an Enlarged Europe (CAMHEE) project aimed to provide an overview of the challenges, current practice and guidelines for developing effective mental health promotion and mental illness prevention policy and practice across Europe. As part of this work, an analysis was undertaken of the situation in England, making use of a bespoke data collection instrument and protocol.Our analysis suggests that there has been significant effort and investment in research, needs assessment, policy, human resource and service developments in CAMHS over the last 20 years, leading to a more detailed understanding and availability of services. Much of the emphasis has been on assessment and management of difficulties, however in recent years attention has begun to focus on mental health promotion. National standards and programmes such as Every Child Matters (Department for Education and Skills, 2004) have acted as catalysts for a number of national initiatives.

Despite laudable intentions and evidence of progress, significant barriers remain in relation to the access to and experiences of child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS). This article draws on the findings of a literature review and reports a number of barriers and their impact on children and young people with learning disabilities. Children and young people with learning disabilities are at a disproportionate risk of experiencing mental health problems yet access and experience of CAMHS can be highly uneven. Families are often unclear about how to access mental health services and what services are available. Such information and knowledge‐related barriers are particularly significant for certain minority ethnic groups. Barriers related to the CAMHS workforce mix, skills and staff attitudes can also mean that skills required for working with people with both mental health conditions and learning disabilities can be lacking. At a macro level, systems‐related barriers include a lack of joint commissioning and planning, unclear care pathways, the lack of a single point of referral, difficult transition to adult mental health services and a lack of inappropriate services.

A system of care is a function-specific, rather than agency-specific approach defined as a “comprehensive spectrum of mental health and other necessary services which are organized into a coordinated network to meet the multiple and changing needs of children and adolescents with severe emotional disturbances and their families” (Stroul & Friedman, 1986). A system of care provides a mental health delivery system for children with SED with a wide array of accessible, community-based services that focus on children's individual needs, include the family in treatment planning, and provide culturally competent services. System of care services are provided by multiple child serving agencies and are collaborative and coordinated (Stroul & Friedman, 1986).

This paper describes and discusses the evaluation of an innovative child and adolescent mental health project located in a large county in eastern England. The project was one of eight located in the voluntary sector and supported by the Mental Health Foundation as part of a national initiative aimed at responding in new, accessible ways to young people requiring help for emotional and mental health problems. Traditional specialist CAMH services are overwhelmed by demand while also failing to engage many young people. This study provides evidence of how new services can develop to meet the needs of troubled young people in appropriate and acceptable ways.

Workforce pressures are the key constraining factor in effective delivery of the CAMHS agenda (Kurtz et al, 2006). The continuing investment and expansion of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) has key implications for workforce planning, and improving outcomes for children and young people requires an adequately resourced, trained and motivated workforce. Every Child Matters: Change for children in health services and the National Service Framework for Children, Young People and Maternity Services establishes for the first time, clear standards for promoting the health and well‐being of children and young people, and for providing high quality services that meet their needs. This paper explores the key workforce issues facing child and adolescent mental health services as identified by child and adolescent practitioners. A number of key themes are identified along with the associated challenges.

This paper provides initial findings from a pilot to introduce graduate mental health workers into primary care, child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) across three localities in the north west of England in the UK. The progress of the pilot was monitored by gathering information from students, managers, supervisors and mentors regularly throughout the 12 month period, during which the pilot cohort were being formally trained. The potential of the new role of primary care graduate mental health workers to address problems of volume and access to services, particularly how the role might contribute to developing nonspecialist primary care services, is considered.

Children with learning disabilities are recognised as being at increased risk of developing mental health problems or challenging behaviour. The need for mental health services for this group of children, while acknowledged, has been inadequately addressed by child mental health services and adult services for people with learning disabilities and mental health problems. Services designated for this group of children have to be able to offer a comprehensive assessment of the problems that the children present with, on‐going short‐ and long‐term management and dissemination of information to other professionals. This paper outlines a model of service provision for these children.

This article aims to demonstrate a different approach to identify and assess adolescents experiencing mental health problems, within a school setting. Presently we rely on primary care professionals to identify mental health problems and adolescents are often reluctant to access such services. One of the benefits of utilising a mental health surveillance screening tool is to identify mental health problems in adolescents and to implement early intervention.

A cross‐sectional survey of school pupils from a secondary school was conducted, using the Paediatric Symptom Checklist for Youths (PSCY). The self‐administered questionnaire was completed and identified adolescents were then assessed by the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). Out of 247 pupils, 84 per cent of the adolescents completed the questionnaire.

From the screening tool, 25 per cent were identified for assessment. During their assessment 64 per cent of the young people were given self‐help guides and health promotion advice. The remaining 26 per cent of the adolescents were provided treatment sessions by CAMHS or by Children's Service Worker. Only 10 per cent of these adolescents had been previously seen within the CAMHS.

The PSCY is a useful tool for identifying and assessing adolescents with mental health problems. However, these results are the preliminary findings of a feasibility study. This subject area is a rich source for future research.

Findings from this project will influence wider mental health surveillance of our adolescent population.

This approach will also influence future service provision, for such a vulnerable population.

No comparative studies of this nature were found in the United Kingdom.

Despite the rich literature on the effects of parental mental health problems on child development, the needs of children of mentally ill parents have been overlooked in both research and services. This study investigated the needs of a neglected group, namely Chinese adolescent children of parents with schizophrenia, in order to gain insights into the design of programmes for these adolescents. In‐depth interviews were conducted individually with five Chinese adolescent girls whose mother or father was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Analysis of the interview data revealed four common themes: stigma and discrimination; mixed feelings of love and anger; the role of being a carer; and positive gains. The results shed light on the importance of taking cultural context into consideration when providing services for these children and further conducting research in this area. Although mental health problems are regarded as a taboo and associated with shame in Chinese culture, these children, out of a respect for their parents (‘filial piety’1), showed a strong sense of loyalty to their parents and suppressed their anger and sorrow for their parents' sake. Implications for social services for children whose parents have mental health problems and suggestions for future research are discussed.