Chilypep’s essence is empowering change. A Sheffield based organisation, working locally and nationally, specialising in empowering Children and Young People, particularly those from disadvantaged communities, to shape their futures and improve their outcomes. Chilypep provides platforms and opportunities for CYP to have a voice in and influence the decisions that affect them, by becoming solution focused activists and co-producers. We work collaboratively with communities, organisations, service providers and decision makers to support them to develop their capacity to listen to, respond, and actively involve CYP in co-production and decision making, both strategically and operationally and at a community level.
Chilypep’s essence is empowering change. A Sheffield based organisation, working locally and nationally, specialising in empowering Children and Young People, particularly those from disadvantaged communities, to shape their futures and improve their outcomes. Chilypep provides platforms and opportunities for CYP to have a voice in and influence the decisions that affect them, by becoming solution focused activists and co-producers. We work collaboratively with communities, organisations, service providers and decision makers to support them to develop their capacity to listen to, respond, and actively involve CYP in co-production and decision making, both strategically and operationally and at a community level. In Sheffield, as in many other places across the UK, there are so many different services that work with different ages, on different issues and there is a lot of moving back and forth across them. Chilypep had been campaigning for CYPMHS to go up to 18 so recognised the issue of transition, and had developed a manifesto around it. The idea for a digital passport came from a group of young people, parents, carers and professionals working with NHS England who were looking at improving integration between services. The group highlighted these frustrations, about needing to repeat their history when using more than one service, and another important thing that they’re always coming up against, that because there were so many different services around it was confusing and frustrating about who knew what and how information was being shared. This was picked up on in the Government’s ‘Future in Mind’ report about how young people’s mental health should be provided for. ‘You should only have to tell your story once, to someone who is dedicated to helping you, and you shouldn’t have to repeat it to lots of different people’. We developed the Tell, Plan, Engage (TEL) plan to help young people with this issue, they can complete it and use with all workers that they are working with.
What was recommended was that passports are written with the practitioner and can include as much or as little as the young person likes such as a summary of their issues, history, and preferences. It’s up to the young person when they want to show it to professionals at a new service.It is kept by the young person, is in their preferred format, they could fill it in on a computer or a phone, they can download it as a pdf to print or email. the Young People then decided that they wanted to make this into an online portal. These ideas were used in writing up a tender, which is a set of requirements that we shared with a few different designers. Only one of them said they could do it for the budget that we had…we had lots of big ideas and think we might have scared a few of them away! The designer, Andy, was in contact with us regularly and came to visit us twice as he was developing the work and was really keen to meet with the young people involved. Once we had a basic prototype, we spoke to groups – STAMP, Young Carers, YIACS. Then we were lots of emails! About any changes that we wanted to make, the words we wanted to have included, how we were going to pay for hosting until 2020. We now use the mental health passport in our training to services about transitions. We ran a Dragon’s Den type event on transitions, asking services to come up with a perfect transition and then assessing this against criteria that the young people had developed for what made a good transition for them.
Wider Active Support
Chilypep is about engaging young people in participation activity that empowers them to use their voice to influence communities, decision-making and services. Children and young people- particularly those who face additional barriers due to vulnerability, disadvantage, discrimination or exclusion – identify their own issues, concerns and priorities, and find ways of voicing and addressing these through the projects that Chilypep delivers. These projects are more often than not delivered in partnership with other organisations, enabling them to influence the importance and practice of participation in partner agencies. This project included CAMHS, adult mental health services, and included their transition lead. We also included the Sheffield Youth Forum. The CCG then put the use of the TEL plan in a CQUIN.
Co-Production
The project that we are specifically speaking about here is the STAMP project, and the Mental Health Passport that they developed. Support, Think, Act Motivate, Participate (STAMP) young people’s participation group aims to increase awareness and understanding of mental health and emotional well-being issues among young people through peer education and anti-stigma projects. STAMP are now widely recognised in Sheffield for their work around mental health participation, and have also represented young people and mental health issues at a national level, including to the Royal College of Psychiatrists. Thirty two young people have attended STAMP group over the course of the year, including 22 new members. 19 of the young people are under the age of 18. The STAMP group have gained views of other young people at consultations, sessions and stalls across Sheffield, including Norfolk Park School (16 students 11- 16) Silverdale School (57 students 14-15), Young Carers (6 yp 13-16), Sheffield College (18 students 17-21). There is a bank of young people willing to engage in interviews and trained around recruitment and young people have been routinely involved in the recruitment process of CAMHS practitioners. Chilypep developed the mental health passport website seeking input from young people across STAMP, young carers and staff at CAMHS and YIACS. Consultations have continued with YP/ services around MH passport in relation to transitions.
Looking Back/Challenges Faced
The work on the transitions paperwork started after a CQUIN was introduced in health services, which prompted the need for services to understand the young person who was involved in the transition. The formalisation of the use of the TEL plan helped ii get adopted across services. The STAMP group are asked to do so much by other people because it is so well respected, but this puts pressure on the young people. Many of the STAMP group have their own mental health issues, and working with them takes more time as they have more needs to be met. The adult mental health services have been restructured whilst we were working with them, so we have had to make relationships and work with different people. It is also difficult to know what ‘level’ to go into the organisations in order to pitch for the use of the TEL plan. Working with so many organisations at time presented challenges, as each saw the project from their perspective. We had to keep focusing it on it being a youth led project.
Sustainability
As above, we have shared across many fora. As this is work co-produced with young people, we have to make it accessible to young people and the practitioners whom they work with, so it has to be shared to fulfil its purpose. We are developing a communications plan which will involve an animation and ‘Zine’ which has information for both young people and professionals.
Evaluation (Peer or Academic)
We have not undertaken a formal evaluation as some things are still in development.
Outcomes
The Think, Engage, Lead plan has been well received by CAMHS staff and used in a probation service in another area.
Sharing
As above, we have shared across many fora. As this is work co-produced with young people, we have to make it accessible to young people and the practitioners whom they work with, so it has to be shared to fulfil its purpose.
Can you please tell us who your service is commissioned by and provided by?
Commissioned by Sheffield CCG and Sheffield Children’s Hospital (CAMHS)provided by Chilypep to do the work on the Mental Health Passport
