Sefton Emotional Health and Wellbeing strategy 2026 - 2030

Sefton Children and Young People Emotional Health and Wellbeing Strategy Show and Tell, July 2025

Getting Advice - Combined agency report.

Highlights:

• Current Strengths

-      Wide range of accessible advice channels: digital platforms (Kooth), physical activity programmes (Active Sefton), sexual health services, substance misuse support (Rise Up), education-based interventions, and Early Help hubs.

-      Strong partnership working across health, education, and voluntary sectors.

-      Evidence-based approaches and trauma-informed practices embedded in several services.

-      Positive engagement mechanisms for youth voice and feedback in many services.

• Common Challenges

-      Limited awareness among families and professionals about the breadth of local offers.

-      Fragmented communication between agencies; lack of a single, easy-to-navigate digital front door.

-      Capacity constraints (staffing, funding, physical space) impacting co-location and outreach.

-      Gaps in emotional wellbeing messaging in universal programmes (e.g., Active Schools).

-      Long waiting times for specialist services and inconsistent consultation processes with young people when services change.

Recommended Actions

1. Improve Visibility and Access

• Develop a centralised, interactive digital platform (linked to BeeBot) for families and professionals to access advice and signposting.
• Create a teen-friendly Thrive Guide summarising local offers for schools, colleges, and youth hubs.
• Use social media and podcasts to share wellbeing advice and promote services.

2. Strengthen Partnership & Workforce Development

• Launch cross-sector training for new staff on Sefton’s Thrive Model and local services.
• Formalise co-location agreements in Family Hubs and colleges to reduce barriers to access.
• Enhance networking events for schools and agencies to share best practice and updates.

3. Embed Emotional Wellbeing Messaging

• Expand Active Schools curriculum to include emotional health content.
• Integrate low-level preventative mental health advice into universal programmes (e.g., Be Active, Early Years).

4. Digital & Innovative Solutions

• Roll out Chat Health and explore peer-led digital advice hubs for young people.
• Develop youth-led podcasts, animations, and online wellness resources to make advice relatable.

5. Amplify Youth Voice

• Formalise consultation processes when significant service changes occur.
• Establish CYP Ambassador Boards and expand use of mystery shoppers and feedback loops.

6. Address Capacity & Equity

• Secure funding for on-site mental health drop-ins and peer mentoring programmes in colleges.
• Explore Wellbeing Navigator roles to guide families through the local offer.
• Improve transport and travel training for young people with SEMH needs

To view the full report, click here Getting Advice

Sefton Children and Young People Emotional Health and Wellbeing Strategy Show and Tell, October 2025

Getting Help - Combined agency reports

Current Strengths

• Diverse interventions: Evidence-based therapies (CBT, systemic family work), trauma-informed approaches, creative therapies, and group psychoeducation.
• Accessibility: Drop-in sessions, school-based support, and community hubs reduce barriers.
• Strong partnerships: Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) meetings, co-production of provision maps, and collaboration across health, education, and voluntary sectors.
• Workforce development: Training in trauma-informed practice, neurodiversity awareness, and emotional wellbeing.
• Youth voice integration: Participation groups, surveys, and collaborative goal-setting in sessions.

Key Challenges

• Long waiting times for therapeutic interventions.
• Limited physical space for confidential sessions.
• Fragmented referral pathways and lack of a single front door.
• Capacity constraints for evening/weekend support.
• Inconsistent consultation processes for service changes.
• Need for more whole-school approaches and early intervention.

Recommended Actions

1. Reduce Waiting Times & Increase Capacity

• Secure funding for additional therapeutic staff and private spaces.
• Expand drop-in sessions and consider late-night/weekend provision for young people.

2. Improve Navigation & Access

• Develop a single front door for all commissioned Getting Help services with shared triage.
• Create a teen-friendly Thrive Guide and promote via schools, colleges, and social media.
• Enhance digital presence (e.g., online booking, virtual sessions).

3. Strengthen Early Intervention

• Embed emotional wellbeing messaging in universal programmes (Active Schools, Early Years).
• Introduce mental health awareness training for staff across settings to prevent escalation.

4. Enhance Partnership Working

• Formalise co-location agreements in Family Hubs and colleges.
• Continue MDT meetings and expand SEMH surgeries for primary schools.
• Improve referral pathways between MHST, CAMHS, and Early Help.

5. Amplify Youth Voice

• Establish young person shadow boards (e.g., SWAN proposal).
• Formalise consultation processes for significant service changes.
• Use creative methods (arts, journaling, digital media) to capture feedback.

6. Workforce Support & Development

• Expand trauma-informed and neurodiversity training.
• Introduce staff wellbeing initiatives to prevent burnout.

7. Innovative Approaches

• Launch peer mentoring programmes and parent-led behaviour therapy.
• Develop digital resources (apps, podcasts, online wellness hubs).
• Explore social prescribing models for non-clinical support.

To view the full report, click here Getting Help

Sefton Children and Young People Emotional Health and Wellbeing Strategy Show and Tell, March 2026

Highlights:

·       Current Strengths

• Strong evidence‑based practice across services with BABS, Early Help, CAMHS, and Venus all use structured, proven interventions.

• Effective mechanisms like surveys, lived experience groups, FFT, and co-production sessions ensure children influence service design rather than just being passive recipients.

• Partnerships with Education, CAMHS, Early Help, and third-sector groups are strengthened through joint planning, step-up/step-down, and integrated pathways, reducing escalation and duplication.

• Services are increasing trauma‑informed training, emotional language training, and specialist development, which has already reduced unnecessary escalations in some settings.

Common Challenges

• Confusing pathways, as some families face unclear, overlapping routes into services, often ending up on multiple waiting lists at once.

• Unstable commissioning with year‑to‑year funding causing service gaps, staff turnover, and reduced continuity for third‑sector partners.

•  High workforce pressure with emotional workload and limited reflective space contributes to staff burnout across services.

• Neurodiversity (ND) pathways can cause confusion with a lack of clarity after a diagnosis, leading to ND cases being incorrectly routed to CAMHS.

•  Limited space in hubs and postcode‑restricted pilots create inconsistent service availability across Sefton, causing unequal access.

Recommendations & Actions:

1. Create a Single, Co‑ordinated Getting More Help Pathway

• Develop one clear, borough‑wide pathway showing how children move between Early Help, CAMHS, education, ND services and the voluntary sector, so everyone understands the route through the system.

• Produce shared referral criteria and a consistent step‑up/step‑down structure so professionals know exactly when and how to escalate or redirect cases. 

•  Introduce a joined-up triage process to reduce duplication and prevent children appearing on multiple waiting lists at the same time.

2. Strengthen Governance and Reduce Duplication

• Align governance arrangements so that Thrive work, the Children & Young People’s Partnership Board, and PCN pilots feed into one coordinated structure.

• Clarify escalation routes for system‑level issues such as demand pressures, pathway gaps or risk concerns.

• Establish a standard mechanism to routinely gather learning from pilots and local innovations and embed it into borough‑wide planning.

3.  Move Toward Multi‑Year Commissioning for Stability

• Shift commissioning for all GMH‑related services to multi‑year cycles to avoid annual drop‑off, staffing disruption and interruptions to family support.

• Bring decision‑making forward in the commissioning cycle, so services have certainty and continuity throughout the year. 

  • Explore shared commissioning approaches across Public Health, the Local Authority and NHS partners to create more resilient funding arrangements.

4.  Strengthen the Workforce Through Shared Support and Training

• Implement cross‑system reflective practice sessions that include Early Help, Social Care, CAMHS, ND teams, education and voluntary partners.

• Roll out consistent emotional‑development, trauma‑informed and safe‑language training across schools, colleges, health services and third‑sector organisations.

•  Develop a joint workforce wellbeing plan to address burnout, support emotional resilience and improve access to high‑quality supervision.

5.  Develop a Clear, Unified ND Post‑Diagnostic Pathway

• Bring together Alder Hey, CAMHS, Early Help, SEND services and schools to create a simple and accessible ND post‑diagnostic pathway for families.

• Produce parent‑friendly ND guidance that explains what support is available, how to access it and when CAMHS involvement is appropriate.

• Add ND‑specific modules to shared language and workforce training so practitioners differentiate ND‑related distress from mental health needs.

6.  Improve System Communication and Shared Language

• Develop a shared Sefton‑wide language framework for discussing emotional distress, self‑harm, need, and risk across all sectors.

• Standardise explanations given to families following triage or assessment so outcomes and next steps are communicated clearly and consistently.

• Create accessible digital resources (such as simple guides and flowcharts) for practitioners, families and education settings.

7.  Address Infrastructure and Access Inequalities

•  Conduct an estates review to ensure hubs and community sites have adequate therapeutic, group‑work and multi‑agency spaces.

• Reduce postcode‑driven variation in access highlighted by pilot programmes such as the PCN ACEs offer.

• Ensure early intervention and Getting More Help support is consistently available in all neighbourhoods across the borough.

8.  Enhance Multi‑Agency Collaboration and Routine Joint Working

• Establish a monthly cross‑system forum with CAMHS, Early Help, education, ND services and the voluntary sector to align pathways, resolve issues and reduce duplication.

• Ensure all partners regularly contribute case studies, outcome examples and insights to strategic documents to maintain a shared understanding of need.

• Embed joint planning into everyday practice so schools, health services and voluntary organisations operate as one coordinated network.