Getting help (community services)
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This section is for children and young people who have mild to moderate mental health challenges and might find support from community services helpful.
Community Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)
A service providing specialist NHS services and support to children, young people, families and carers who are experiencing difficulties with their emotional, psychological and mental health. They may offer help on an individual, family or group basis. CAMHS also work with schools and other organisations to support young people.
They offer a range of assessment including:
- Neurodevelopmental assessments,
- Functional behavioural assessments
- State of mind assessments
- Assessment to step down from ACTs and inpatient units.
- Interventions including talk therapies.
They provide support with:
- Thoughts and feelings.
- Behaviours and experiences.
- Identity and relationships.
- Mental health conditions and interventions (including medications).
Community CAMHS sub-teams are:
- Neurodevelopmental team: Assesses and treats concerns associated with autism, ADHD, mild to severe learning disabilities with comorbid psychiatric difficulties, behaviour that challenges, developmental disorders and tic disorders.
- Emotional treatment team: Works with young people presenting with emotional difficulties around mood such depression and anxiety
- Enhanced treatment team: Works with young people who present with pervasive and persistent difficulties, often due to significant attachment and relationship difficulties.
Under 5s team: A specialist CAMHS service for children under the age of 5, their parents/carers and Under 5s professionals across Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster, supporting healthy emotional development and wellbeing in infants and young children from birth up to their fifth birthday.
Who they see:
- Children 0-18 years of age who have a Kensington & Chelsea or Westminster GP
- Presenting with a significant emotional, psychological or mental health concerns which cannot be attended by lower threshold services
- Referrals are accepted primarily from health services such as GPs and paediatrics. Some services also accept referrals from education or social services.
Contact them:
Kensington & Chelsea CAMHS:
1B Beatrice Place
Marloes Road
London, W8 5LP
020 3317 3599 – 9:00 to 17:00, Monday to Friday
Westminster CAMHS:
7a Woodfield Road
London W9, 2NW
020 3317 5999 – 9:00 to 17:00, Monday to Friday
Short Break Practitioners
Supporting children and young people aged 0-17 with additional needs and disabilities by providing information, advice and support, coordination of services, support to access services and support during transitions. During this, may assess for short breaks.
Who they see:
- Must be aged 0-17 with additional needs and disabilities.
- Requires three or more health inputs aside from universal/GP/Health Visitor/School Nurse
Contact them:
Bi Borough Disabled Children’s Support Service Duty Email: [email protected]
Bi Borough Disabled Children’s Support Service Duty Telephone: 020 7361 2048
09:00 – 17:00
Child Development and Neurodisability Service s (CDS) – Cheyne and Woodfield Road
The Child Development Services provides ASD assessment and diagnosis for children in the 0 – 18 age range.
The services’ work consists of the identification, assessment, investigation and support of children with long term neurodevelopmental disorders and neurodisabilities, working within a multidisciplinary team, liaising with primary and acute health care, networked with a range of tertiary care, and other agencies as appropriate.
The services aim to ensure that an individual child or young person’s neurodevelopmental needs are established and addressed, that appropriate programmes of intervention are made, and that their needs are clearly communicated to families, carers and the multiagency services.
The Cheyne CDS is part of the Community Paediatric service based at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.
Woodfield Road CDS offers appointments at its Woodfield Road site, St Mary’s Hospital, and some specialist clinics at Hammersmith Hospital.
Who they see:
Cheyne CDS is available to children and young people aged 0-18 with a GP in:
- Kensington & Chelsea: SW3, SW5, SW7, W8, W14, SW10
- South Westminster: SW1
- Fulham: SW6
- Hammersmith: W6, W12, W14, NW10 (Partial)
Woodfield Road CDS is available to children and young people with a GP in:
- Central and North Westminster
- North Kensington and Chelsea
Children and young people are referred into the service by health service professionals including GPs, health visitors, therapy teams and Paediatric hospital professionals, and by multiagency professionals, particularly SENCOs, educational psychology and social workers.
Contact them:
Cheyne Child Development Service,
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital
369 Fulham Road
London SW10 9NH
020 3315 6488
Click here to download the Cheyne referral form
New Cheyne referrals: [email protected]
Click here to visit Cheyne’s website
Woodfield Road Child Development Service,
The medical centre
Community child health
First floor
7E Woodfield Road
London W9 3XZ
020 7266 8777
For Woodfield Road referral forms, please contact [email protected]
Queensmill Autism Outreach Support Service
Queensmill outreach supports autistic young people in mainstream primary and secondary settings across Hammersmith & Fulham, Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster.
The service is committed to enabling children with autism learn successfully in a setting that at times can be very challenging and confusing for them. Mainstream schools present high difficulties to autistic students. With support, some students are able to continue their education in within mainstream environment.
Support on offer includes:
- Training and support for staff in understanding autism
- Observation and evaluation of students and their ability to learn in specific learning environments
- Guidance in preparing for and delivering lessons to pupils with ASD
- Guidance in creating an appropriate physical environment within a classroom or within the school for children with ASD
Liaison with parents/carers and outside agencies to promote inclusion and support for pupils with ASD
- Talking to mainstream pupils to help them to understand the needs of their peers who have ASDs
- Parents’ support groups in mainstream schools
- Access to additional training and resources within Queensmill School
Who they see:
- Open to primary and secondary schools in Hammersmith & Fulham, Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster.
- Accepts initial contact from both schools and parents/carers
Contact them:
Outreach,
Queensmill School,
1 Askham Road,
W12 0NW
0208 740 8112
Bi-Borough Inclusion Service
The Bi-borough Inclusion Service delivers dynamic and creative special education support for students with a range of SEND needs, staff, parents/carers and a wide range of related services. They work with children and young people with SEND aged 0-25 in partnership with families, schools, health providers, social care and other services.
The service consists of the following teams:
- Bi-borough Inclusion Service - Overarching Service Offer
- Bi-borough Autism Advisory Team – supporting children and young people with a diagnosis of autism who attend mainstream educational settings
- Bi-borough Hearing Support Team
- Bi-borough Vision Impairment Team
- Bi-borough SEN Occupational Therapy Service
- Speech, Language and Communication Advisory Teacher
Who they see:
- Support for settings for students with a range of SEND
- Support for parents/carers and siblings of SEND children/young people
- SENCO support and coaching
Contact them:
Click here to visit the service’s website
General enquiries: [email protected]
Autism advisory team referrals: [email protected]
020 7641 5825
CouRAGEus
The CouRAGEus project from Solace Women’s Aid supports Black and minoritised young women, including those from ethnic minority groups, LGBT+ and disabled young women.
Their Counselling service provides emotional support for young people, aged 14-24 who experienced domestic violence directly or indirectly. They provide a safe space where they can speak freely and confidentially to process feelings and their experiences, work through fears and hopefully gain some perspective of what healthy relationships look like.
Who they see:
- Minoritised young women, including those from ethnic minorities, LGBT+ and disabled young women.
- Aged 14-24
- Who live, work or study in any London Borough
- Are worried about or have experienced violence, abuse or exploitation
- Are experiencing trauma or emotional distress
Contact them:
https://www.solacewomensaid.org/our-services/courageus-project
07484 010014
West London Zone
West London Zone supports children and young people to build the skills and relationships they need to get on track socially, emotionally and academically, through a personalised two-year programme.
They place Link Workers in schools to serve as mentors to at-risk young people, as well as to design and facilitate each programme; a mix of one-to-one and group support sessions in school, and commissioned sessions with local community organisations who provide more specialist support best suited to the goals outlined in their plan.
The service is commissioned in schools in the north of Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster.
Who they see:
Available for children and young people who attend a school who commission West London Zone. Children and young people are identified as most benefiting from support through data analysis combined with teacher and school staff knowledge about individual children, as well as through a questionnaire given to the children to complete.
Children identified for the programme are at risk in at least three or more of the following indicators:
- Academic attainment
- Peer relationships
- Emotional problems
- Parental engagement
- School attendance
- Confidence
- School engagement
Contact them:
The West London Zone programme is available in those schools where it is commissioned. Please contact the school directly if you want to discuss a child/young person that may benefit from the programme.