24% of Wandsworth Council’s care leavers (about 85 young people) felt they had a disability or long term health issue and there were concerns existing services were not meeting their needs.
What?
Wandsworth recognized that a range of services were needed to support their care leavers who had additional mental health/ emotional health needs. A team manager co-ordinates these different services:
- Transition social worker – They will be allocated to work alongside the PA to complete the Care Act assessment and support the young person to access services – see case study
- Specialist Mental Health Personal Advisor – They have a background in mental health and bring a therapeutic approach to their work with up to 15 young people who are experiencing acute difficulties – see case study
- Commissioned counselling services. Two 0.5 fte counsellors support care leavers. One offers a more traditional style of counselling. The other offers an ‘out reach’ style – working with young people in custody or those involved in gang related activity.
- Talk Wandsworth – Part of the NHS- Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) and used by a number of young people who value the confidential nature of the service.
Impact
Offering this range of services gives the leaving care service different options to support care leavers.