A new service which will provide therapy to children and young people who have suffered trauma and neglect is set to be commissioned in Liverpool.
At its meeting on Friday 20 January, Liverpool City Council’s Cabinet is being asked to earmark £650,000 for the Therapeutic Service over the next three years.
It will provide psychological therapy and counselling for those whose lives are significantly affected by emotional and behavioural difficulties caused by issues such as violence and abuse.
It is anticipated that the new early intervention service will help reduce the number of young people coming into care by providing the right help and support to families to resolve mental health issues.
It is also hoped it will:
• Reduce the number of children missing from school or at risk of exclusion
• Improve school attendance and attainment
• Increase identification of those at risk sexual or criminal exploitation
• Cut cases of alcohol and drug abuse
• Improved personal and social skills
• Support young people and parents affected into education, employment and training
Councillor Barry Kushner, Cabinet member for children’s services, said: “Improving the emotional wellbeing of children and young people is a massive priority for the council.
“This new service will give us the ability to be able to intervene early, give families the support to help keep them together and prevent young people ending up in care.
“Tackling the root cause of their issues can transform the life of a young person and their family, giving them the best possible chance of getting over the trauma that they have suffered.”
The project will sit between the existing family support outreach team – set up in 2015 – which has worked with 150 children with emotional and behavioural difficulties since last April, and the long-established Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS).
It will work closely with CAMHS and the community hubs run by the Young Peoples Advisory Service (YPAS).
If the report is approved, a search will get underway for providers with the service expected to be launched sometime in the summer.
