The CAMHS Standard of the Children’s National Service Framework for England (published September 2004) set out a 10 year programme of improvements for child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS). The aim is that all children and young people, from birth to their eighteenth birthday, who have mental health problems and disorders, will have access to timely, integrated, high quality multidisciplinary mental health services to ensure effective assessment, treatment and support, for them, their parents or carers, and other family members.
This commitment to improve CAMHS has been backed by significant additional funding, over £400 million in the last four years, to local authorities and the NHS. We will continue to build on these improvements and ensure that the promotion of children’s mental health and emotional well being remains a priority for schools and children’s services.