Delivering and evaluating national mental health training programme between schools and NHS
CORC is a delivery partner and contributes to the evaluation design, data collection, monitoring and quality assurance of the Mental Health Services and Schools and Colleges Link Programme.
The Link Programme is a national initiative funded by the Department for Education, supported by NHS England and led by the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families working with 13 partners, including CORC. It will reach every school and college in England over the next four years (starting September 2019), identifying children and young people’s needs at an early stage and equipping professionals to support them.
The Link Programme has a simple aim: to bring together education and mental health professionals so that more children and young people get the help and support they need when they need it. The training will be rolled out to schools and colleges in phases over four years, being offered to up to 22,000 schools and colleges, including alternative provision settings. The Link Programme will deliver just under 1,000 training sessions across England involving two whole-day workshops for up to 20 schools at a time to cover all 22,000 schools, encouraging collaborative work so children do not fall between the cracks or experience poor transition between services. This package of measures is part of the Government’s plan to improve mental health support for children and young people, including identifying mental health issues before they become more acute.