All CIILs should ensure they complete the below checklist for safe practice principals, this will ensure that commissioned services are selected appropriately and safely.
| How Good is our Health and Wellbeing Service? | Done |
| The school/cluster has a clearly set out approach to supporting young people’s emotional wellbeing at an universal, additional and intensive level.
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| School documentation makes clear how commissioned and voluntary health and wellbeing services fit into existing GIRFEC support systems within the school/cluster. They form part of a whole-school/cluster approach to health and wellbeing.
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| Services are commissioned following a robust needs analysis at school/cluster level. Schools/clusters are clear about the purpose of the work, who will be responsible for overseeing the work and how outcomes will be measured.
Feedback from parents / children / young people on experiences of accessing these services should also be gathered.
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| A range of preventative supports are considered which are consistent with existing work in the area of nurture and resilience. These promote connectedness and while not ‘therapeutic’ in focus can have a measurable impact on children and their families. These could include:
· Delivery of evidence informed parenting approaches e.g. the Solihull approach. · Whole family initiatives which foster attachment and positive parent- child relationships. · One-to-one input to help parents to understand and use online health and wellbeing resources with their children · Outdoor learning experiences for children, including Forest Schools which help to build relationships, confidence and can support good mental health. · Services that focus on reducing sources of stress in the lives of children and young people · Whole family initiatives which foster attachment and positive parent- child relationships. · Approaches that empower young people / families to manage their own health and wellbeing. · Service that focus on strengthening core life skills.
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| Commissioning, voluntary and statutory services will recognise and respond to the factors which contribute to poor mental health, such as poverty, homelessness etc and have clear links to services which can support these factors.
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| Following a robust GIRFEC assessment, if individual work is considered to be helpful, a number of factors should be considered to ensure safe practice i.e.
· Any organisation offering a ‘psychological intervention’ must be suitably qualified and recognised on an Accredited Voluntary Register and working within an ethical framework e.g. the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BCAP), the British Association for behavioural and cognitive psychotherapy (BABCP), the Health and Care Professions Counselling for Counselling Psychologists, or the National Register of Psychotherapists and Counsellors UK · This would include approaches such as, cognitive behavioural therapy, family therapy, psychotherapy, play therapy, art therapy. · Caution should be exercised around one-to-one therapeutic interventions with younger children. The Scottish Government recommend that counselling services should not be used with children under 10. · For younger children parents/carers should be fully integrated into support plans which have a therapeutic element. Much of the plan should be targeted at supporting the system around the child. · Specialist interventions with young children, such as play therapy can only be undertaken within an appropriate safe practice frameworks. Therapeutic work with young children can have a secondary traumatising effect if not delivered within safe practice frameworks. · It is imperative that appropriate clinical supervision arrangements are in place for staff working with children and young people. Clear communication channels between the supervisor and the school/cluster should exist.
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| All group work with a ‘therapeutic focus’ will used evidence informed interventions and will be conducted by appropriately qualified staff.
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| All commissioned and voluntary services working with children and young people and their families will have an understanding of clear pathways of escalation.
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| All commissioned and voluntary services working with children and their families will be familiar with relevant legislation and procedures, including informed consent, information sharing, confidentiality and Child Protection
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| Pupils have been involved in the development of the health and wellbeing services, including gathering information on their expectations of these services.
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| All staff, parents/carers, pupils and school partners have been made aware what health and wellbeing services are being offered.
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| Information about the health and wellbeing services are understood by all staff and partners, with training in place as appropriate
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| Information and publicity materials have been developed and made available for a wide range of different audiences – staff, parents and carers, pupils – and makes reference to the Equalities policy in terms of disability, gender, race and sexual orientation
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| The health and wellbeing services are complimentary to the support provided by school staff and are integrated into existing GIRFEC school systems, to ensure a coherent pathway of support
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| A member of school staff has been identified to oversee the health and wellbeing service, including agreeing and monitoring objectives, compliance with wider school policies, and overseeing the work | |
| There are clear referral processes in place, including for self-referral
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| There are protocols in place for working with and referring on to other agencies.
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| The complaints procedure is clearly outlined and accessible to all.
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| Monitoring, evaluation and reporting procedures are in place, including collation of data to be reported at school, local authority and, where appropriate Scottish Government level.
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| Arrangements for the financial monitoring of the contracts are in place
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