Eligibility criteria
• Up to 18 years of age at the time of the referral
• Present a risk to others and/or themselves
• Either currently involved with the criminal justice system or is at risk of being so in the future
• Present with complex mental health difficulties
Who can refer?
We accept referrals from a range of agencies including Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, youth justice services, local authorities, law courts, solicitors and GPs.
Making a referral
Please contact us to request a referral form or download a copy of the form from the website. Remember that it is important to provide as much supporting information as possible with the referral to avoid any unnecessary delays and help us in our decisions about the appropriateness of your request. We also encourage you to consider access to funding at the earliest opportunity and to agree this with the relevant commissioning agencies.
Please note that the referring agency will retain their case responsibility and all referrals should be supported by the local mental health service. Please remember, where there are acute mental health concerns these would need to be addressed by relevant local mental health services prior to any involvement from Youth FIRST. If the young person is being managed within the CPA process the care coordinator role will remain with the local provider.
For medico-legal referrals, solicitors will need to provide a comprehensive letter of instruction outlining their requests.
Requests for training and consultation
Our team is experienced in delivering specialist training, supervision and consultation to multi-disciplinary audiences in a range of health, social care and youth justice settings. We can develop specific training packages and/or ongoing consultation arrangements to meet the needs of your service. Please contact us to discuss your requirements.
