Kids in crisis or a system?
Sarah Johnson NPQH MA FCCT FRSA
Educationalist that supports others to include marginalised children
Over ten years ago, I stood at the skeleton of a new building, hard hat on my head and excitement for the future provision that we were going to offer children that walked through it.
I had been appointed to my first senior role as the teacher-in-charge of an in-patient psychiatric unit. The in-patient service was for 12-18 year olds with severe and enduring mental health needs. In the next seven years I worked there, I saw about sixty children a year. Some with psychosis, anorexia, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Many of whom had suffered enduring trauma.
The week before I stood on the building works of this new build, I was welcomed into the old asylum which this new building was to replace. I remember a little girl shuffling in the corridor like an old lady, the overwhelming feeling of darkness and damp. There was little light and the overwhelming feel was exactly what it was, a workhouse for the poor. Situated in the East End of London and condemned when the kids and staff left to the new building.
The new place that I stood in was bright and airy and more importantly than the decor it was meant to symbolise a local provision, responsive to the community and tied in closely with tier three mental health services.
So where are we now? Watching #kidsincrisis last night tells me a few things.
The system is still not responsive enough to take into account people's needs to feel like they belong. Receiving treatment miles from home, when you are already isolated by your own thoughts, is a travesty.
Waiting for help when you are already at crisis point, is a disgrace.
We need to stop talking about parity of esteem and address a system which is fundamentally flawed to meet the needs of the community is meant to support.
We need to stop talking about thresholds, about criteria and ask ourselves whether or not this child feels like they belong and are safe.
We need to stop talking and start changing the system which is actually the thing that is in crisis.