The Children and Young People’s Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme (CYP-IAPT) is a change programme for existing services delivering children and young people’s mental health care.  It aims to improve outcomes and experience of care for children, young people and their families by increasing access to effective services and evidence-based therapies through system-wide service improvements. From 2019 it will become incorporated into business as usual.

It provides a very useful set of principles for consideration when considering the commissioning of any service for child and young people’s mental health.

New mental health support in schools and colleges and faster access to NHS care

In 2017, the Government published its Green Paper for Transforming children and young people’s mental health, which detailed proposals for expanding access to mental health care for children and young people, building on the national NHS transformation programme which is already underway.

Educational Mental Health Practitioner PG Dip

This programme is a shared initiative between the Department of Education and Department of Health and supports the government’s priority to increase access of mental health and wellbeing support for children and young people.