Service : Children in Care Mental Health Service (Berkshire West)

The CAMHS Children in Care (CiC) is a jointly commissioned service which supports young people under 18 who are in the care of Reading, West Berkshire, and Wokingham local authorities. We’re a mental health team that works closely with the adults around the young person, to help them understand and respond to emotional and behavioural needs.

Our team uses approaches based on national guidelines, including trauma-recovery models and mentalisation-based therapy. We work together with other professionals to make positive change for young people's emotional wellbeing.

We offer different types of support depending on need. Sometimes we offer advice or help professionals find the right services. Other times, we carry out assessments, work directly with young people or carers, or offer training to the team around the child.

It’s important to note, we are not the same as the physical health Children in Care Service, who carry out standardised physical health assessments for all Berkshire young people in care.

Social workers can request support from our team for any child or young person in care with Reading, West Berkshire, or Wokingham local authorities. For those placed out of county, we offer remote consultations. While we can’t provide direct support in those cases, we can help connect them with local services.

We also support unaccompanied asylum seekers who are under 18 and children cared for on an Special Guardianship order (SGO). However, we’re not set up to directly work with children who have learning disabilities. There's a separate team for this, known as the Learning Disability Service.

Other mental health services are available for children and young people in Berkshire who fall outside what our team covers. These include the Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Autism Assessment teams, Getting Advice, Getting Help, Getting More Help and Getting Risk Support. Referrals to those services should follow the usual process.

To make a referral, email: camhscicconsultations@berkshire.nhs.uk

If we accept your referral, we’ll offer an initial consultation to gain better understanding of the child and young person’s needs.

We’ll ask questions about their history and current situation, including education, social care, mental and physical health, offending behaviour, and any risks.

We would ask you to come with ideas of what you would like to change or concerns about the young person.

The CAMHS CiC team will continue to work closely with the other CAMHS pathways to ensure to that children in care can access the specialist services as needed.

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