Children’s Rights Alliance criticises continued failure over youth mental health

The Children’s Rights Alliance (CRA) has said the Government has made progress on issues such as online safety and the provision of free schoolbooks, while criticising its repeated failure on youth mental health services in an annual report card.

The umbrella group of organisations campaigning for children’s rights said the State was failing children and young people with mental health difficulties who continued to be admitted into adult psychiatric units.

The organisation said while there had been a fall in the number of youth people who had to be treated in adult psychiatric units, the practice still continued due to a shortage of inpatient beds for young people.

The CRA released its annual report card grading the Government across a range of issues on Tuesday, noting improvements in some policy areas.

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The Government received an A grade on online safety, for enacting legislation to criminalise the non-consensual distribution of intimate images, as well as appointing an Online Safety Commissioner.

The CRA also welcomed improvements in the provision of free schoolbooks and reforms of the childcare sector.

The annual report criticised the lack of progress on plans to end the direct provision system, which have been setback by efforts to find accommodation for tens of thousand of Ukrainian refugees and asylum seekers from other countries.

Tanya Ward, CRA chief executive, said while the system had faced huge pressures, there had also been a “concerning drop in the standards” of emergency accommodation provided by the Department of Integration.

The Government’s performance tackling family homelessness received a D grade, due to the 3,442 children recorded as homeless at the end of last year.

“We are long past a crisis point in the level of child homelessness and without significant changes, there is a concern that the housing crisis will continue to deny more and more children of a decent childhood,” Ms Ward said.

When it came to youth mental health the Government received an E grade, due to the ongoing shortage of in-patient beds in the Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services (Camhs).

Ms Ward said she was concerned at a near doubling of children waiting for mental health services, and what impact those delays were having on young people.

“What concerns us greatly, as we know for those children, what’s happening for them at home, as they probably have stopped going to school, they’ve probably stopped engaging with their friends. They may be self-harming, they could have an eating disorder, could be deteriorating,” she said.