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Health and Wellbeing Joint Delivery Board which was co-chaired by COSLA and Scottish Government. The Board oversaw reform across areas that impact on the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people.

Introduction

The Children and Young People's Mental Health and Wellbeing Joint Delivery Board (JDB) is the most recent national programme of work led by COSLA and Scottish Government seeking to support children and young people's mental health.

Figure one: Children and Young People's Mental Health Policy Timeline- Key developments.

Timeline of recent key developments ...

March 2017 Scotland's Mental Health Strategy (2017-2027)

June 2018 Children & Young People's Mental Health Taskforce

Sept 2018 Children & Young People's Mental Health -Audit Scotland Report

May 2019 Youth Commission on Mental Health Report

July 2019 Children & Young People's Mental Health Taskforce Report

June 2019 Rejected Referrals CAMHS: A Qualitative and Quantitative Audit Report

Aug 2019 Children & Young People's Mental Health and Wellbeing Programme Board

March 2021 Children & Young People's Mental Health & Wellbeing Joint Delivery Board

Taking into account learning and recommendations from previous work, referenced at figure one, and the evolving context, the JDB convened in Spring 2021 and focused on eight deliverables. These included:

1. Continue to enhance community-based support for emotional wellbeing/mental distress through ongoing investment and support for local partnerships.
2. Ensure crisis support is available 24/7 to children and young people.
3. Support mental health pathways and services for children and young people in vulnerable situations and in need of care and protection, aligned to the work of the Promise.
4. Develop a support programme to enable the implementation of the CAMHS service specification.
5. Agree and support the implementation of a neurodevelopmental service specification /principles and standards of care.
6. Develop a programme of education and training to increase the skills and knowledge required by all staff to support children and young people's mental health.
7. Work jointly with the Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Programme Board to consider what is currently available and what is required in the future to support the mental health and wellbeing of 3-5 year olds across Scotland and produce recommendations.
8. Through a selection of appropriate media platforms, we will ensure:

• information on the work of programme board reaches stakeholders, young people, parents, and families
• information on the interconnecting work of other boards reaches relevant stakeholders
• information on how to access mental health support is available to staff supporting children and young people.

These deliverables have been progressed by the JDB, with each deliverable supported by a Task and Finish Group.

Individual Task and Finish Groups considered how to progress their deliverable taking into account the previous work undertaken in the area and current context. Consequently, work undertaken across the breadth of the JDB has been wide-ranging and taken different forms including research, Tests of Change, evaluation, sharing good practice and the production of learning resources. Based on learning from the work they undertook, each Task and Finish Group made recommendations to the JDB which were considered within the Board's final recommendations provided at page 20.

An outline of the work undertaken by the JDB, as described by young members of the Board, can be found here. Full details on the role and remit of the Board can also be found on the Board's webpage.

The following report details work undertaken on each of the deliverables and considers progress made towards the JDB's intended outcomes. It also provides a set of recommendations from the JDB which address how their work can be continued and embedded, and what should be important next steps in supporting children and young people's mental health.

Board Membership and Supporting Principles

The Board aimed to include representation from stakeholders with a wide range of expertise and responsibility for supporting children and young people's mental health and wellbeing. Organisations/associations represented at the JDB are outlined in Appendix B. Membership of the Task and Finish Groups was also wide-ranging and informed by the specific focus of their work.

A priority for the JDB, across all its work, has been meaningful engagement with children and young people. A set of principles for participation and engagement were developed to support consideration of this at the Board itself, where children and young people were represented through Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP), and within Task and Finish Groups. For more information on participation and engagement please see page 15.

Outcomes and Measuring Progress

In the context of working towards its deliverables, the JDB recommended a whole systems approach to evaluation be considered for work being undertaken across the breadth of its remit. Public Health Scotland (PHS) was asked to consider how this could be progressed. This resulted in an agreed outcomes framework (Appendix C) which is inclusive of:

• the short-term outcomes – the changes within the direct control of the deliverables
• the intermediate outcomes – the changes which the deliverables can contribute toward, either individually and/or in combination
• wider population outcomes – the changes that the work of the JDB will contribute to longer term.

PHS subsequently undertook a review of learning from the JDB both as a whole and of its individual deliverables. This included drawing on the outcomes and any existing monitoring or evaluation findings, to begin to consider the difference the deliverables are already making or have the potential to make, toward improving the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people. This exercise has informed the understanding of progress made by the JDB outlined in this report, subsequent reflections and considerations for future policy and delivery of children and young people's mental health support.

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