Time for Young People Leeds

The Children’s Society will help support young people with their emotional wellbeing and mental health. They will offer a range of different support for common mental health difficulties. For example, issues with friends or family, anxiety or worries, loneliness, low mood, self-harm, relationships, starting a new school or college, coping with anger, bullying, feelings related to gender and identity.

Support staff can work on issues young people want help with and can give help and strategies on managing these. They can also signpost onto other services that may be able to offer you further help and support.

The new service will support people aged 11-18 (and up to age 25 for care leavers and young people with special educational needs and disabilities).

There will not be a strict end to support when a young person turns 18, but it will be expected that the service providers will undertake a planned handover process to allow a supported transition into the appropriate adult provision.

The team of wellbeing practitioners have a range of professional skills and experiences including lived experiences. The new service will offer a range of support and approaches, providing help and support in a way that’s right for the young person. The service will offer;

● Weekly wellbeing drop-ins. Drop-ins will be delivered at the main centre and in other local community venues. No appointment is needed, there are no waiting lists or referrals – just turn up.  Drop-in sessions last 30- 40 minutes. There is no commitment from the young person, so you have the freedom to choose when you drop-in and if you want to come back.
● One to one structured support. Delivered at one of the bases in Leeds local to you. At the drop-in session, if appropriate you may be offered more structured support which can last up to 10 sessions. This can be accessed at any one of the Time for Young People sites.
● Group work. Working with local community groups to deliver education on common emotional wellbeing issues and information on support available.
● Wellbeing resources and information
● Awareness raising and education
● Support for professionals working with young people. Advice, information and resources for workers and professionals to better support the children and young people they are working with.

• No appointment or referral is needed for the drop-in – young people, parents / carers are welcome to just come along to one of the venues, during the opening times. Please note under 13s will need consent from their parent / carer.
• Time for Young People, Leeds also provides more structured support which can last up to 10 sessions, this can be accessed at any one of our Time for Young People sites.
• At ‘drop-in’ the team will carry out a short assessment to find out which service can support young people best.
• Young people can also access the Time for Young People ‘drop-in’ even when they have been offered or receiving structured support

The Children’s Society work with children and young people of all ages, but can provide wellbeing information and support to parents and carers alongside the young person, via their drop-ins or as part of the structured support offer (with consent). They will also offer professionals who work with young people advice and information.

Their aim is to support trusted adults in the child’s network through their increased understanding of mental health, wellbeing and the support/interventions offered to the children, or young person, including parent-led Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).

The Children’s Society is a national organisation who have been working with children and young people for over 140 years. Locally, they have been delivering services in Leeds for over 50 years. They have been delivering emotional health and wellbeing services for children and young people across the country for over 30 years. Last year they supported over 48,000 people with their emotional health and wellbeing through a range of wellbeing services, including one to one support, group work, workshops, school sessions and events.

From their current work in similar services, the following outcomes have been seen for children and young people:
• 90% reported improvement in their wellbeing after receiving brief intervention
• 94% felt skills they learned would help them better manage their emotions/situations
• 98% would recommend Pause to friends/family
• 83% were ‘most definitely’ happy with support
• 95% felt their worker listened to them

From the 1st July the main service centre (hub) located at Hillside in Beeston and three local community venues (spokes), based at Beeston, CATCH (Harehills) and Boston Spa will open for wellbeing ‘drop-ins’ with a phased mobilisation of additional service provision over the following months.

The venue locations will be reviewed with children and young people to make sure they are in the right areas.

Young people can access help and support without an appointment. There is no waiting list or referral process (under 13s will need consent from a parent/carer). Drop-ins are a place where young people can talk about how they’re feeling.
Further detail regarding each of the venues, including ‘drop in’ opening days and times will be published on the MindMate and Childrens Society website prior to the launch.

In 2023 Leeds Integrated Care Board (ICB / NHS) and Leeds City Council undertook a review of the local Community Based Early Emotional and Mental Health Support service offer. They spoke with stakeholders, including input from clinical experts and young people, to find potential areas of development. These were identified and developed into a new service specification. The ICB carried out a fair and robust procurement process to ensure that the new provider could meet the new service requirements of the new service offer.

The Children’s Society were successful in being awarded the new contract as the service provider.

The open-access drop-in model has been designed specifically to create an accessible service for all children & young people.

With a central hub and local community drop-in locations across Leeds, children & young people can walk into welcoming/friendly environments, providing range of support with no referral, appointment or waiting time.

Evidence suggests that open access services are beneficial in reaching marginalised groups who may not be accessing other services. The service will have a particular focus on children & young people from key groups who are less likely to access support through school or GP referral, for example children in care, experience of youth justice, special education or learning difficulties.

Time for young people will also ensure accessibility by providing information about the support in a range languages, formats and digital audio.

• Time for Young People Leeds will consist of evidence-based therapeutic services for a range of common mental health difficulties, such as mild to moderate anxiety and depression, for children and young people which takes into consideration a full assessment of needs.
• The interventions provided to children & young people will include structured 1:1 support, alongside brief interventions. These will be based on NICE guidance and evidence base, following a psycho-social model including person centred & solution focused approaches.
• Time for young people practitioners work in an open-minded trauma informed way, having an awareness of additional disclosures and possible safeguarding issues which may present within sessions.

Approaches, tools, model, and interventions used to achieve outcomes:
Time for young people practitioners have access to a plethora of resources which can be tailored for each child/young person’s requirements, for example creative expressive interventions inclusive of narrative therapeutic techniques.

The approach and length of interventions provided will be based on an ongoing assessment of the children & young people’s needs and as clinically indicated based on NICE guidance and evidence. We utilise CORE10 and Goal-Based Outcomes to support the child/ young person recognise their journey and feel they are better equipped to manage their emotional wellbeing, either with continued support from our Time for young people practitioners, their parents/carers support, or by themselves.

We constantly review the service delivery and gain children and young people’s feedback to improve delivery. Along with ensuring appropriate pathways are in place to escalate where risks are identified or to signpost into other services that can be beneficial to children & young people.