Increasing demand for children's mental health services in Jersey

As part of the government's Child Mental Health Week, figures have been released showing an increasing demand for child mental health services in Jersey.

Since the pandemic, services have seen an increase in both demand for mental health services and complexity of the care needed.

In the last four years, demand for mental health services in islanders under the age of 18 has increased, with total referrals up by 26%.

The government have released the individual figures for each mental health provider in the island in the last 12 months:

CAMHS Jersey

Referrals to the Child and Adult Mental Health Service has increased from 683 in 2020, to 855 in 2021.

The total number of cases held by the service at the end of 2021 was 993 children and young people.

Children and Families Hub:

In 2021, there was 2,814 contacts and 631 referrals to Children’s Social Care Services.

Kooth Jersey:

Last year, 720 Young people registered with Kooth and there was a total of 4381 site log ins.

86 young people have engaged in structured counselling with the service.

YES: In May 2020, during the height of lockdown in Jersey, one in three children expressed some sort of concern, such as anxiety, sadness, or safety concerns.

Anxiety was most common issue faced by patients, affecting around 10% for primary children and 15-20% for older children.

Last year the Youth Enquiry Service (YES) held 1,909 counselling sessions with children and young people with 206 accessing advice and support from youth workers through drop-in services.

School-based counselling:

Around 1,200 students accessed support through school-based counselling.

Jersey's Assistant Minister for Children and Education, Deputy Trevor Pointon, who has responsibility for CAMHS, said: “The full impact of COVID-19 has not yet been understood, nonetheless we know that it has placed additional burdens on children, young people, and families. “This is why the new Children and Young People’s Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health Strategy is significant for Jersey. Four key priorities have been developed, each with measurable outcomes and detailed actions. These priorities and actions will ensure that the vision for this strategy is achieved.”