Agenda item

The draft report was considered at the Commission’s meeting on 10 March 2015.  A copy of the latest draft is attached.  Any further comments received will be reported at the meeting. 

Following discussion at the lasts meeting it was agreed that LAMP would provide further evidence at the meeting.

The Commission received a 2^nd Draft final report for approval. The first draft was originally considered at the Commission’s meeting on 10 March 2015. Comments received since the meeting had been incorporated into the 2^nd draft report.

A representative of LAMP attending the meeting and submitted the following comments based upon her experiences:-

a)         Young black British Men could start to face isolation and mental health issues in earlier school life, through unintentional institutional racism, through a mixture of lack of resources and training for professionals who were not aware of the isolation and social issues faced by different cultures.

b)         Children from mixed race marriages could face social isolation as they could feel that they were not fully accepted or felt able to fully integrated into either of their mixed races. This could make them vulnerable to mental health issues in their later life.

c)         Often young black British pupils were underachieving as a result of their isolation issues, but there were no specific initiatives to address this. Often, pupils were more likely to be seen as obstructive and troublesome and, as a result, they were more likely to be excluded either form lessons or from school, which further increased their isolation. Exclusion from lessons did not count towards the formal figures for ‘excluded pupils’ but often had the same effects of isolation for the individuals concerned.

d)         There was an under representation of African-Caribbean teachers in the workforce.

e)         There was a need for a young peoples’ specialist advocacy service in Leicester for mental health for all young people and not just for one specific community.

The Chair commented that, whilst a number of the comments were outside the specific narrow terms of the review, he recognised that the impact of the issues raised could have a later impact upon the group that were the subject of the review. He also recognised that interventions at an early stage may have had an effect upon the current picture.

It was noted that the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health had an on-line educational resource called ‘MindEd’ which provides practical e-learning sessions when and wherever they’re needed, quickly building knowledge and confidence to identify an issue, act swiftly and improve outcomes for children and young people. The resource can be found at the following link:-

http://www.rcpch.ac.uk/minded

The project were working with schools to give them have the resources and tools to recognise mental health issues at an early stage. A similar resource for parents was also being developed.

The importance of having a service such as CAMHS was also recognised.

RESOLVED:

1)         That the 2^nd draft report be received and that the comments made at the meeting be noted.

2)         That the Chair revisits the recommendations in the report to make them more robust and ‘active’ clearly indicating individuals or organisation which should take action to address them. The revised recommendations be sent to the Commission Members for comment before the final report is issued in mid-April.