Referrals
Referrals
Making a Referral to the Mental Health Support Team (MHST)
Is MHST the right service?
The Mental Health Support Team (MHST) provides early intervention support for children and young people experiencing mild to moderate mental health difficulties. Before making a referral, it is important to consider whether the difficulties are having an impact on the young person's daily life and whether they are likely to benefit from a short-term, goal-focused intervention.
MHST accepts referrals through two routes only:
- Self-referral by a parent, carer, or young person (where age and understanding are appropriate) using our online MHST self-referral form. School staff are welcome to share this link directly with families and young people.
- School referral submitted by an appropriate member of school staff. Your knowledge of the child or young person, the support already provided within school, and the impact you have observed on their day-to-day functioning forms an important part of the referral process and helps us determine whether MHST is the most appropriate service.
For children of primary school age and younger adolescents, schools should ensure that parents or carers are aware of and agree to the referral. Older young people may be able to access support and provide informed consent themselves, depending on their age, understanding, and circumstances. Where appropriate, we will work directly with young people who wish to access support independently.
Before making a referral, we encourage schools to discuss concerns with the child or young person and, where appropriate, their parent or carer. This helps ensure that the young person understands the support being offered and is willing to engage with intervention.
If you are unsure whether MHST is the most appropriate service, please speak with your school's MHST Link Worker before making a referral as they are able to support consultations with you. They can help you consider the young person's needs, explore alternative support options where appropriate, and provide advice on the information that will help us assess the referral effectively.
Consider Referring to MHST When:
- The difficulties are having an impact on the young person's day-to-day life, learning, relationships, or wellbeing.
- Reasonable adjustments and support within school have been tried but have not resulted in sufficient improvement.
- Other possible causes or underlying needs have been explored.
- The child or young person and their parent/carer have been involved in discussions and would like additional support.
- The young person is willing to engage with support and motivated to make positive changes.
- There is a clear area of concern or target that the young person would like to work towards.
What presentations we commonly work with:
MHST is most effective when supporting young people who are experiencing:
- Mild to moderate anxiety
- Mild to moderate low mood
- Mild to moderate OCD symptoms
- Difficulties following a single traumatic event
- Low self-esteem or confidence difficulties
- Mental health difficulties that have started relatively recently
- Their first experience of accessing mental health support
Typically, the young person will:
- Have good or mostly good school attendance
- Present with low levels of risk
- Have a supportive and stable network around them
- Have identified goals they would like to work towards
- Be motivated to engage in support
What we may be able to support with:
We recognise that not all young people fit neatly into one category. We may still be able to support where:
- There is more than one presenting difficulty, such as anxiety and low mood.
- Difficulties have been present for some time but the young person has not previously accessed support.
- The young person has received support in the past but would benefit from further early intervention.
- Mental health difficulties are having a moderate impact on daily functioning.
- Attendance has started to be affected.
- Other services are involved but there is no duplication of support.
- There are elevated levels of distress or risk, but the young person remains safe with family support and does not require intensive monitoring.
- Each referral is assessed individually, and the team will consider the wider context of the young person's needs when determining suitability.
When MHST may not be the most appropriate service
As an early intervention service, there are some situations where alternative services may be better placed to provide support.
This may include:
- Difficulties that require specialist intervention not offered by MHST, such as:
- Eating disorders
- Substance misuse
- Domestic abuse support
- Bereavement services
- Significant or severe impact on daily functioning.
- Persistent non-attendance or severe attendance difficulties.
- Current or recent involvement with CAMHS Crisis Services.
- Significant substance misuse issues.
- Complex trauma requiring specialist support.
- Young people who require ongoing care coordination across multiple services.
- Cases where regular professional meetings and multi-agency oversight are required.
- Current Child in Need (CIN) or Child Protection Plan (CPP) involvement where mental health support cannot be offered safely as a standalone intervention.
- Young people who are unwilling or unable to engage with support at this time.
- Requests for interventions not provided by MHST, such as counselling or EMDR.
If MHST is not the most appropriate service, we will aim to signpost to alternative support where possible.
Helping us make the right decision
The quality of information provided in the referral helps us assess referrals quickly and accurately.
Please ensure that referrals include:
- Consent from the parent/carer and, where appropriate, the young person.
- A clear description of the mental health concern.
- Details of how the difficulty is affecting daily life, education, attendance, friendships, family life, or emotional wellbeing.
- The views and wishes of the young person.
- Information about support already tried within school.
- Details of any current services or professionals involved.
- Any known risks or safeguarding concerns.
Common reasons referrals are returned for further information
To avoid delays, please check that your referral includes:
- Evidence of consent
- The referral form with as much information as possible
- The young person's voice and views
- Clear information about the presenting difficulty
- Details of the impact on day-to-day functioning
- Information about support already provided
- Details of any current therapeutic involvement
- Sufficient context to understand why support is being requested
Referrals may be unsuitable where:
- Information provided is inconsistent or incomplete.
- The difficulties fall outside the MHST early intervention offer.
- There are significant systemic or environmental challenges which need addressing first.
- The young person is already receiving similar therapeutic support elsewhere.
- A counselling service is being requested rather than an MHST intervention.
Our aim
We want every child and young person to receive the right support, from the right service, at the right time. Providing detailed referral information helps us ensure that young people are offered the most appropriate support as quickly as possible.
As an early intervention service, we know that outcomes are often better when support is accessed at the earliest opportunity. We therefore encourage referrals to be made as soon as concerns begin to have a noticeable impact on a child or young person's wellbeing, rather than waiting for difficulties to become more severe or entrenched.
If you are unsure whether a referral to the Mental Health Support Team (MHST) is appropriate, or would like support with completing a referral, please contact your school's MHST Link Worker. They can help you consider whether MHST is the right service, discuss alternative support options where appropriate, and provide guidance on the information that should be included within a referral.
To support schools further, we have also included an example referral at the bottom of this page. This fictional example demonstrates the level of detail that helps us understand a young person's needs and enables us to make timely and informed decisions about the most appropriate support.
By working together and providing clear, detailed information, we can help ensure that children and young people access the support they need at the earliest opportunity, improving the likelihood of positive outcomes and preventing difficulties from escalating.
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