More children reporting mental health issues due to delayed assessment of need tests

Children who are initially trying to access disability services end up needing Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) too for serious psychiatric intervention as their confidence and mental health deteriorates.

Children’s development and mental health are being put at risk by "distressing" delays in assessment of need tests for those with suspected disabilities, campaigners say.

Children as young as seven are self-harming and talking about suicide as they wait for desperately needed services, Rachel Martin of Families Unite for Services and Support (FUSS), said.

And children who are initially trying to access disability services end up needing Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) too for serious psychiatric intervention as their confidence and mental health deteriorates, she said.

Some 3,494 children were overdue their assessment of needs (AON) at the end of Quarter 3, according to data released in a parliamentary question to Fianna Fáil TD and Minister of State with responsibility for Law Reform and Youth Justice, James Browne.

In Cork and Kerry, 589 children were overdue their assessment of need while the Dublin North area had the largest overdue waiting list of 963 children.

Parliamentary questions from Michael Moynihan, Fianna Fáil TD for Cork North West and chair of the Oireachtas Disability Committee, showed that at the end of Quarter 2, some 2,531 children were overdue their assessment of need.

The data showed that 1,449 of these children were overdue their AON for more than three months; 717 were overdue by one to three months; and 365 children’s AON was overdue by less than one month.

In Cork and Kerry, out of a total of 587 children overdue the assessment, the majority — 476 — were waiting for more than three months. The HSE said that it receives approximately 6,000 applications for these assessments each year.

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A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) had been implemented for conducting AONs from January 15, 2020, in a bid to reduce waiting lists. Some 10,000 assessments were completed through this process in which the preliminary clinical assessment could not exceed 90 minutes.

But in March, the High Court ruled that the HSE's AON process failed to comply with its obligations under the Disability Act.

The HSE said that it stopped using that approach and clinicians have been advised to use their clinical judgement to determine the level and type of assessment required, pending the completion of clinical guidance for Assessments of Need.

“Unfortunately we’re hearing from a lot of families who are still waiting for assessments," Ms Martin said.

I know a lot of families that are taking High Court actions against the HSE over assessment of needs. Others are so exhausted they’ve given up.

“If the proper supports are not in place then the child does not develop the skills they need to develop. A lot of what we’re seeing is children with mental health issues who need to be referred to CAMHS then because they’re not getting the supports they need, it’s affecting self-esteem and confidence," Ms Martin said.

“We’re hearing from families with children as young as seven who are self-harming and talking about suicide.”

Mr Moynihan said: "Waiting lists are stark. We need to see a very serious reduction in waiting lists. This is impacting people’s life chance. I cannot stress enough how distressing this is."