Listen Up - Social Welfare Portal

listenup!46 | Chapter 6There was considerable variation in opening hoursand out-of-hours services at each organisation, butall offer evening work with young people. Someorganisations were able to offer greater out-of-hourssupport, sometimes depending on need:“An out-of-hours telephone service is providedso that those who are at high risk can contact theproject at any time.”Project worker, IceBreak, The Zone, Plymouth“If there is a major issue in the life of the youngperson, staff will ring them in the evenings, and inextreme circumstances staff will leave their mobileson so that the young person can contact them.”Project worker, Caterpillar Service,Barnardo’s Marlborough Road Partnership, CardiffFast accessThe seven partner sites which provided servicesdirectly to young people who needed support(Experience in Mind in Brighton and Hove providedtraining) were asked for specific details on how easyit was for young people to access their services, andhow quickly they could do so. In terms of location,all seven organisations stated that they were easilyaccessible for all or most of their catchment area.The average waiting time from referral to initialassessment/appointment was more varied. Oneorganisation was able to offer this on the same day.Four organisations offered this within two weeks,one within three weeks and one within four weeks.In addition, some organisations had drop-in servicesthat could be used during the waiting time.All seven organisations were able to provide a fast-trackservice for young people who were deemed to be ina state of crisis or urgent need for help. In each case,this was for more than just a one-off appointment, andusually included full access to the service or a longerterminterim service such as in The Market Place.Case Study“There is a fast-access service availablefor any young person a worker may beparticularly concerned about, for example,those having suicidal thoughts, those whohave attempted suicide or are otherwiseparticularly vulnerable.“Young people can be offered fourcounselling sessions to start almostimmediately, that can be used to help theyoung person create strategies for copingwhilst they are waiting for long-termcounselling.”Managing numbersProject worker, The Market Place, LeedsAlthough all the organisations were able to offer afast-track service for those in urgent need, there wasthe need for waiting lists in some places for nonurgentaccess. This was due not only to the volumeof young people trying to access the services, asIceBreak in Plymouth found:“As the project has progressed, the clients accessingthe service have had increasingly high levels ofneeds, with around three-quarters of young peoplepresenting with self-harm or suicide.”Project worker, IceBreak, The Zone, PlymouthThis has necessitated a process of assessing andprioritising young people by need, but to date thishas not let to any real difficulties.This approach is also taken by the Market Place inLeeds, which had seen an increase in the number ofyoung people wanting to use the service: