Father's concern over lack of support for Cork teen

A CORK father has hit out at the lack of support for young people with mental health issues, as his daughter has been left waiting months for services despite concerns over her mental health and self-harming.

The father, who wished to remain anonymous, highlighted the need for the Government to ensure that services like Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and Tusla, the child and family agency, are equipped to support children and their families.

Speaking to The Echo, he explained that his teenage daughter, showed no concerning signs until September last year, when she started missing school and exhibiting worrying signs of mental health issues.

Despite concerns over her mental health and self-harming, she is yet to receive an appointment date for mental health services, after her case was passed from CAMHS to Jigsaw and back again.

“There would be concerns over her mental health,” the father said.

“She has self-harmed as well.

“She’s just being passed from pillar to post and back again."

“I’m not blaming the people on the ground in these services, that wouldn’t be correct - it’s the powers that be that need to act on this,” he added.

His daughter’s case has also been referred to Tusla by her school, as she has missed days or been late on dozens of occasions.

A spokesperson for Tusla said the agency does not comment on individual cases.

“All referrals received by Tusla Education Support Services are screened and assessed by a Senior Educational Welfare Officer (SEWO), and receive a response to indicate that the case has been allocated to an Educational Welfare Officer, the case is on a waiting list or that the referral has not meet the criteria for intervention by an EWO and the reasons why,” they explained.

“If someone wishes to speak to a member of the Tusla Education Support Service about a referral, they can call the Educational Welfare Service in their region.

“Contact details can be found at tusla.ie/services/educational-welfare-services/educational-welfare-service-contacts/”.

'EVERY EFFORT TO REFER URGENT CASES'

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Cork Kerry Community Healthcare response said CAMHS teams meet every week to review all referrals, and that “every effort is made to prioritise urgent referrals so that young people with high-risk presentations are seen as soon as possible - this is often within 24 to 48 hours”.

“This may impact on wait times for cases that are considered, by a clinician, to be less severe.

“CAMHS is not suitable for everyone,” the spokesperson added, pointing to organisations like Jigsaw, which is funded by the HSE to provide early intervention mental health services for 12 to 25-year-olds.

However, it was recently revealed that waiting times for appointments with Jigsaw in Cork can be up to 30 weeks.

The spokesperson also highlighted the HSE text service on 50808, which provides immediate support for people going through mental health or emotional crisis.

The HSE also supports online counselling providers MyMind.org and Turn2Me who provide counselling and psychotherapy to young people.