427 - Emotional and Mental Health Service for Children in Care and Care Leavers

Wigan Council’s requirements of an Emotional and Mental Health (EMH) Service for our Children in Care and our young people who have left our care; including children with neurodevelopmental / SEND / LD.

The service is to be a flexible and a responsive service for this cohort of children and young people who have in the vast majority of cases, suffered significant adverse childhood experiences often leading to long-lasting emotional trauma. Child and adolescent mental health provision currently does not meet this need. These children and their carers need a robust service to ensure the right support is provided at the right time in order to avoid an escalation of need and support stability within their home.

The service will complete emotional wellbeing assessments of all children who are new into our care. There will be the provision of weekly drop-in support to the Care Leavers Hub, provide specific support to social workers and the team around the child, offer comprehensive therapeutic training to our foster carers (supported lodgings hosts), group consultation and individual support to foster carers and fostering families in relation to the children they care for and one to one therapeutic support to a mutually agreed number of children a year.