Leading the Way in Children’s Mental Health Transformation
The Midlands CYP MH Regional Collaborative continues the incredible progress previously achieved by the CYP IAPT Midlands Collaborative in transforming mental health services delivered to children and young people (CYP) experiencing mental health (MH) problems.
Gathering key stakeholders across services, ICBs, HEIs, national and regional NHSE, and young people, the collaborative continues the crucial task of improving children and young people’s experience of mental health services.
Our overall aim is to grow a skilled workforce delivering evidence-based practices while improving outcomes for children, young people, and their families.
What was CYP IAPT?
The Children and Young People’s Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (CYP IAPT) project was a whole-service transformative initiative aimed at enhancing mental health services for children and young people (CYP) in England.
Inception and Early Goals
Launched in 2011, CYP IAPT was designed to improve the quality of mental health services for CYP through several core principles:
Improving Accessibility
Ensuring that CYP mental health services are accessible to all who need them.
Participation
Facilitating authentic participation of young people, parents, carers, and communities at all levels of the service.
Accountability
Embedding a culture of accountability through a clinically meaningful use of Routine Outcome Measures (ROMs) to reliably measure changes in symptoms, monitor recovery progress, and capture service user experience.
Awareness
Proactively raising the awareness of mental health and emotional wellbeing problems in children and young people while combatting stigma associated with mental ill-health.
Evidence-Based Therapies
Expanding the range of evidence-based psychological therapies delivered by qualified therapists.
Progress and Current Status
Since 2011, CYP IAPT has trained thousands of therapists across England, focusing on evidence-based practices such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Systemic Family Practice (SFP), and parenting interventions. The project has shifted from a transformative phase to integrating these practices into routine service delivery.
Key developments include:
Clinical Training Programmes:
Postgraduate training for practitioners in various therapeutic modalities.
Leading Transformation:
Postgraduate training programmes in leadership and clinical supervision.
Focus on Early Intervention:
Emphasising early identification and intervention for mild to moderate symptoms of anxiety and depression.
New Roles:
Introduction of roles like Children’s Wellbeing Practitioners (CWP) and Educational Mental Health Practitioners (EMHP) to provide early intervention and prevent escalation of mental health issues.
To date, the CYP IAPT project has significantly transformed the culture within CYP MH services, establishing a more effective, responsive, and user-centred approach to mental health care for children and young people.
Future Plans
Looking ahead, the Midlands CYP MH Regional Collaborative is committed to building on the hard work and achievements of the CYP IAPT project by way of:
Expanding Training:
Increasing the number of trained practitioners to ensure widespread access to high-quality mental health services.
Innovative Interventions:
Developing and implementing new evidence-based interventions tailored to the needs of CYP.
Collaboration:
Strengthening partnerships with educational institutions, local authorities, and community groups to integrate mental health support within schools and communities.
The Midlands Young Advisors, established in 2017, have supported the CYP IAPT project across all aspects of transformation. The Midlands CYP MH Regional Collaborative remains fully committed to supporting their ever-evolving input and commitment across all key transformation principles.
While the term CYP IAPT may have gone into retirement and the project shifted from a transformational to an integrative phase, the project team remains committed to its core principles, striving to make mental health services more accessible, accountable, and effective for children and young people across England.
Associate Development Solutions
Associate Development Solutions (ADS) have taken a key role in project managing the CYP IAPT Midlands Collaborative since its launch in 2017. With an initial focus on development and system readiness, the project team at ADS have taken a lead role in coordinating and collaborating alongside training delivery.
Key contributions include:
Programme Support and Project Management
Implementation support to services
Stakeholder events
Facilitating concise communication across stakeholders
Workforce development
Risk and issue management
Collaborative budget oversight and management
Operational management of Midlands Young Advisors
Academic partnerships with HEIs
The CYP MH support team at ADS are highly skilled and experienced in CYP MH, both clinically and managerially. They continue to provide this crucial support to the Midlands CYP MH Regional Collaborative alongside the Midlands Young Advisor team.
If you would like to know more, please contact us.
