Anyone with knowledge of youth justice?

Oh how closely this rings home to me. A member of my sons family, not his child, who is very very bright has mental health problems and attacked her mother recently. She has to be made homeless to be taken into care , which is what she needs to get the help she needs. I find it all incredible but CAHmS and school have been no use and we are in despair. With my other problems I need all this like a hole in the head. My son is contemplating living in his car with her for the matter to be taken seriously. It has taken a lot for me to post this and put this problem in the public domain.

She is currently on police bail for common assault. She is 15!!

Has the child been diagnosed with a disorder and has she been charged with an offence Luckygirl?

Yes and Yes.

Don't talk to me about CAMHS Ann - I have yet to hear of any such service in any area of the country that does any good whatsoever. Total waste of resources.

So true Luckygirl twice we have been totally let down by them.

Luckygirl, speak to her defence, they will get medical reports for her defence. Also worth ringing MIND, they have a legal dept, they may advise her rights as a vulnerable child as to support, or depending where she lives there could be local support, MIND do work with NHS mental health but not for it.

Another suggestion is to look for an advice line specifically for her disorder , they will certainly advise on support and will understand her behaviour is the result of the disorder and be sympathetic not judgemental .

It is so wrong parents have to fight so hard for medical help and it is getting worse . She should not be interviewed without a guardian present , she is a minor. She is in need of treatment , support and understanding , there are support groups for all the mental health disorders we deal with at our centre . I pray she and her family will find the support and help they need

Interview was undertaken with a social worker as "appropriate adult." But they have placed this teenage child on bail with a friend of her choice (without consultation with the parents, who know something of the unsavoury history of this "friend"). Parents were not allowed to be involved in this choice or to make representations about the mental health issues, of which the police and SW were ignorant. Child should have been seen by a duty psychiatrist, but this was not done.

I will suggest the legal dept at MIND - thank you for that.

I've just looked up the info at MIND and it says that their legal advice is taking 6 weeks at present!

I have forwarded their generalinformation line in case they might be able to help.

My sons stepchild was held in a cell for 5 hours while he got a solicitor involved. She was then issued with an exclusion order and she also went to stat overnight with a friend with no checks made as to the suitability of said friend. I am not close to this girl but would still have her here if she would come and if it would help , but at 78 and H with Alzheimer's I feel overwhelmed with the task. Just don't ask about the other GPs!!

What a worrying scenario. The child, is under 18 but I suspect falls below adult services and above the realistic cut off point for adolescent services. To hear her parents weren't consulted makes me cross but isn't surprising. Cuts to mental health and social services often leaves the police as the only emergency service.
Family rights group has an excellent website and may still have a phone help line. Is there a local charity that may help. Best of luck to all

Did the child have legal representation as well as an Appropriate Adult Luckygirl? If not I think the police and SW were negligent in their duties. When I was working with young people I would always insist on the child having a solicitor present. Is there any way the family can seek independent legal advice now since Mind have such a long waiting time? They could also consider making a complaint to the police/ Children's Services. They certainly have a right to be consulted about where their child is living.

Children's Rights Alliance for England may have some advice www.crae.org.uk/

Luckygirl my best advice would be to suggest you find out if there are any local mental health charities specialising in work with teens. The statutory services and national charities seem to have been overwhelmed for so long that it's very difficult to get timely help.

annsixty perhaps these links may be of some use.
42ndstreet.org.uk/individual-support/
www.vinciconstruction.co.uk/project-showcase/junction-17-specialist-adolescent-mental-health-service/

You heard it here, lucky. CAMHS has done some good in this part of the country. I speak from indirect personal experience.

Bags - I am glad to hear that; but I used to work for a CAMHS and believe me I know what is going on behind the scenes! The CAMHS in the area relevant to this thread has NO PROFESSIONAL STAFF, just a secretary telling people there are no staff!

Thank you for the various helplines and suggestions. We need to find some way to convey to the powers that be that this child has a mental health problem and needs a proper assessment - in fact the police were told this at the time of the arrest but still proceeded as if the child were delinquent rather than ill. Child's parents are ringing everyone they can think of this morning - GP, MP etc. Suicide or self harm is a very real risk here. I cannot tell you how worried we all are. The decisions made by the police and SW are mad and have created more risk. There must be some way of unlocking the right help.

I have no experience in connection with this thread I just wanted to say that I think it's tragic for all concerned especially the two young people mention in that the services required are not available

Iam64 - I have just pm'd you - if you are able to pick that up and reply I would be grateful.

The child I referred to up thread is this afternoon receiving a caution from a Police officer,she is getting help now from the Youth offenders team and an organisation called Mosaic.
We had her here over Christmas and New Year,not an experience I want to repeat but getting her into education again is not taking any priority.lots of buck passing going on.

This organisation may be able to help with finding a suitable education placement
schoolexclusionproject.com/

Good luck - I know how difficult it can be to get the right help.

Will pass that on Tresco thankyou.
She is for the short term back home with her mother but two people with mental issues is not a good mix.

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Luckygirl if the young person has been remanded until trial there will have been a social worker appointed who will be writing a report for presentation to the court. This should involve meetings with the person involved, the responsible adult who stood bail, the parents and the place of education/employment. If there is some reason to question the 'friend' the parents should try to contact the social worker directly and tell them this. It may be worth ringing social services and offering to go in whenever they want.
It sounds as if there is some conflict between the parents and child, if they can afford it it might be worthwhile consulting a solicitor and discussing their options.

Thank you all for your posts - I have received a lot of help and support from one experienced Gransnetter via pms and a little progress is being made - after some really bumpy times.