The Criminal Justice Liaison and Diversion Team is a multidisciplinary assessment team providing initial mental health and Mental Health Act assessments for children and young people involved in the criminal justice system, through outreach into the community and court and custody settings. Where additional needs are identified, referrals are made into the relevant service.
The Criminal Justice Liaison and Diversion Team is a multidisciplinary assessment team providing initial mental health and Mental Health Act assessments for children and young people involved in the criminal justice system, through outreach into the community and court and custody settings. Where additional needs are identified, referrals are made into the relevant service.
| Access |
To encourage referrals and increase access, the team do not have a strict referral criteria or formal referral form and will accept referrals from anyone, including parents, solicitors, police, young offender teams or self-referral. The team work 7 days a week from 7am to 10pm.
Onward access to further support
Referrals meet the local CAMHS requirements for an initial assessment allowing young people to go straight into scheduled specialist mental health interventions, bypassing waiting lists and avoiding repeated assessments. Where needed, youth support workers offer pre-therapy outreach to help young people engage with mental health services. Through home and community visits they aim to build rapport and trust to identify and resolve issues preventing a young person engaging with mental health and other services (such as educational placements, substance misuse services etc.) Where assessments indicate family or carers needs they will also signpost them to the appropriate service.
Multi-agency working
The team typically work with young people with complex needs and chaotic backgrounds that require a multiagency approach. To support a coordinated response the team regularly attend multiagency strategy meetings and link in with voluntary sector agencies such as VENUS (a charity working with vulnerable women, children and young people). They work alongside schools to provide advice and guidance on sensitive and difficult issues and have established links with forensic and early intervention in psychosis teams.
Risk management
The service provides risk management to young people using tools such as SAPROF (structured assessment of protective factors for violence risk) and SAVRY (structured assessment of violence in risk) to ensure that all agencies involved are aware of all current and potential risks. This enables the service, and other agencies, to support the child or young person appropriately, such as completing risk assessments and management plans for a child on bail for sexual offences to allow them to continue in education while ensuring the safety of other children.
Further details
| Commissioning | NHS England | ||||||||||
| Providers | Mersey Care NHS foundation trust | ||||||||||
| Workforce (WTE) | 1 Psychiatrist, 1 clinical psychologist (band 8), 1 learning disabilities nurse, 1 mental health nurse, 1 social worker (band 6), 2 team managers (band 7), 1 operational manager (band 8a) 1 administrator (band 3) and 2 support workers (band 4) | ||||||||||
| Population size | Whole population – 1080077, under 18 – 212929, according to 2016 ONS mid-year population statistics for Liverpool, Wirral and Sefton | ||||||||||
| Caseload | From Feb 2016 to Jan 2017 they received 626 referrals and had 1323 contacts with children and young people. | ||||||||||
| Prevention and resilience – universal and early intervention for at risk | Specific specialist assessments e.g. ADHD | ||||||
| Access and advice – consultation lines, triage and signposting |
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| Early support and brief interventions | |||||||
| Biopsychosocial assessment |
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