Waiting for a Service?

Hertfordshire's CYPMHS System encourages children and young people to access support for their emotional wellbeing and mental health early - as soon as their needs emerge. To support this, the CYPMHS Early Help offer has been increased, and as a result, more children and young people are accessing help now than in previous years and whilst there is a wide range of support available for them, some will experience waiting times.

There are support services with open access, and no waiting times, that we encourage children, young people, and families to utilise whilst waiting, such as our digital support services with instant chat functions and self-help resources:

WithYouth (for ages 5-18)

Lumi Nova (for ages 7-12)

The Sandbox (for ages 10-25)

We recognise that waiting for a service can be an uncertain and difficult time. We are listening to feedback and striving to provide children, young people and families with clear expectations, communication, and support whilst they are waiting, by providing them with information about:

• What the service they are waiting for offers and what to expect.
• Risk assessments and how to get in touch if the situation changes and/or if they have any concerns in between contacts.
• Local resources and services available to help them whilst they are waiting e.g. the early help digital support services with instant chat and self-help resources (With Youth/Lumi Nova and The Sandbox), or the Herts Haven emotional wellbeing drop-in cafes, or the Mental Health Support Teams in Schools (MHSTs). Details of all these early help services and more commissioned services can be found here
• Other resources such as: Young Minds and Anna Freud
• Who to call in a mental health crisis, including HPFT’s 24/7 freephone helpline (SPA): 0800 6444 101/NHS 111 or Samaritans freephone: 116 123, 24 hours a day, every day for any age.

The Hertfordshire CYPMHS System will continue adapting and developing the support whilst waiting, in response to the feedback and suggestions received from children, young people, and families.