News Release, 21 August 2006
According to a new report released today by the Mental Health Foundation and Centrepoint, the increasing numbers of young homeless people with mental health problems are not getting adequate support because services rarely work together to provide the necessary help.
Over two thirds (69%) of the young homeless people aged 16-25 surveyed for the report have mental health problems. Half (50%) experience regular feelings of anxiety and depression as a result of being homeless, and a fifth (19%) had received a psychiatric diagnosis for schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder or clinical depression prior to becoming homeless. Of those, half (10%) were forced to leave the family home because of their mental health problem.
The report, ‘Making the Link between Mental Health and Youth Homelessness’, claims that despite these figures staff working within housing and youth homelessness services lack the necessary skills to deal with mental health issues and need specialist training. They also struggle to access appropriate support for young people experiencing mental distress. Mental health assessment waiting times are long and this lack of early intervention leaves young people vulnerable to developing more entrenched mental health problems. As a result young people often reach crisis point before being seen by a mental health team.
The report highlights that some voluntary sector housing and homelessness support services encounter barriers when trying to refer young people to the statutory sector. This is because mental health services are under resourced and some statutory services are reluctant to accept referrals from the voluntary sector. The research also found that young people with both mental health and drug and alcohol problems often do not get the help they need because services rarely work together making it difficult to provide complete care packages.
Moira Fraser, Head of Policy at the Mental Health Foundation, said:
“There are a few services in London who do deliver integrated mental health and homelessness care but it is rare. We need to see more services working in unison and better pathways to specialist mental health and drug and alcohol services for young homeless people. Vulnerable young people asking for help should not have to face long waiting lists or have to cope with services that aren’t able to deliver.”
Balbir Chatrik, Director of Policy at Centrepoint, said:
“The last few years have seen the growing complexity of mental health issues affecting homeless young people including self-harm and addiction, yet access to mental health services remains limited. In 2002 Centrepoint established its own Health Team to provide dedicated and integrated support to young people in Centrepoint services. Our experience shows that it is vital to get services working together in order to provide help before crisis point is reached.”
Almost half of the young people surveyed (45%) became homeless because they were forced to leave their family home due to a breakdown in family relations most often because of the young person’s behaviour connected to their experience of drug use, criminal activity or mental ill health. A fifth (20%) chose to leave their family home, others found themselves homeless as refugees seeking asylum in the UK (14%).
The charities make a number of recommendations in the report. First among these is a call for joined up commissioning of integrated services across sectors, and for mechanisms to enable rapid access to specialist mental health and drug and alcohol services when needed by young people.
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Notes to editors
For further information and interview requests contact please contact the Press Office on 020 7803 1105 / 1128 or email the press office
Victoria Pearcey at Centrepoint can contacted on 020 7423 6887 or v.pearcey@centrepoint.org
Sample:
The manager’s of 123 services in London, in contact with 16-25 year olds were interviewed. In addition, 59 young people who attended one or more of the services were interviewed.
The Mental Health Foundation is the leading UK charity working to improve services for both people with mental health problems and people with learning disabilities. It is the only charity to fund and work with both service users and providers and plays an important role in funding research and new approaches to prevention, treatment and care. The Foundation’s work includes allocating grants for research and community projects; contributing to the public debate; educating policy makers and healthcare professionals and striving to reduce the stigma attached to mental illness.
Centrepoint is the national charity working to improve the lives of socially excluded homeless young people. It provides a range of services, including emergency night shelters and short stay hostels, specialist projects for care leavers, ex-offenders, young single parents, foyers and supported flats and floating support services. In April 2006 Centrepoint took over the running of Stopover services in South East London bringing the total number of young people supported to just over 2000 a year. These services provide the foundations from which young people can start addressing some of the issues that lead to them becoming homeless, and developing the skills they need for a sustainable future.
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