Working in F-CAMHS

Working in Forensic Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services 

Forensic Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services North West (F-CAMHS NW) is a well-established service, with a long history of providing highly expert mental health support to children and young people with mental health and forensic concerns across the North West of England. Originally called the FACTS Team, the service was the first community forensic mental health service for children and young people, covering the whole of the United Kingdom and Ireland.

We are proud to say that following a national review, NHS England chose to expand the FACTS model, by the creation of multiple regional F-CAMHS teams. We are highly skilled and experienced team of mental health professionals, from backgrounds such as Mental Health Nursing, Clinical Psychology, Social Work, Speech and Language, and Psychiatry. The team specialises in providing expert advice and consultation to agencies working with young people with complex presentations, who display high-risk behaviour towards others, which may lead to their contact with the criminal justice system or be admitted to a secure setting.

Additionally, the service also undertakes comprehensive forensic mental health assessments, travelling across the North West to meet with young people, their families and carers, to better support agencies to understand the young person’s mental health needs and risks. In a small number of cases, we also deliver intensive intervention with an aim of reducing high-risk behaviour. What makes our service unique to other mental health services, is the diversity of young people and clinical presentations we encounter. This is due to the large geographical area of which we cover, containing several large cities and rural areas, each with its own specific nuances.

We also take referrals from a diverse range of professionals which can include Social Workers, Teachers, other mental health services, Police, and Counter Extremism and Terrorism agencies. This leads to incredibly interesting and rewarding work. We actively encourage all staff members to participate in weekly continued professional development and further education and training is constantly on offer, to ensure we maintain our position as experts.

We also deliver training, present at conferences, and engage in research to support our colleagues nationally. We have always to be a very desirable service to join, due to the nature of the work, and the friendly, supportive culture. Commissioning arrangements for FCAMHS have recently changed leading to considerable development and expansion of the service.

An area of focus for development has been supporting young people who display forensic risks in the context of a learning disability and autism, which has led to vacancies for Practitioners who are highly skilled in this area.