Question reference: S5W-32524
- Date lodged: 13 October 2020
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Current status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 28 October 2020
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to Youthlink Scotland’s finding that one in two youth workers believe that young people’s mental health will be detrimentally affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answer
We are aware mental health is a particular concern right now and it will be more so as we come out of this crisis. Our recently published Transition and Recovery Plan, ‘Mental Health - Scotland's Transition and Recovery’, sets out a number of actions to progress improvement on access to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) including the implementation of our CAMHS Service Specification and the restarting of our improvement programme of work. In the Plan we have also committed to developing a population health response to the issues affecting the mental health and wellbeing of children, young people and their families. This includes continuing to develop mental health and wellbeing support in education and schools, and a response to support children, young people and families experiencing heightened distress.
During the Covid-19 pandemic we also have continued to invest in a range of measures to support children and young people’s mental health. This includes providing enhanced digital resources on mental health and wellbeing available via Young Scot’s website and social media, and the introduction of a new Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Services for 5-24 year olds.