Parental Mental Health

Toolkit – Think CHILD

Parental mental health problems are not in themselves a child safeguarding concern. However, case reviews show that without the right support a parent with poor mental health can sometimes struggle to provide safe and loving care for their child.

The learning from case reviews highlights that professionals from adult and children’s services need to work together to safeguard children when there are signs that a parent’s mental ill-health is impacting their ability to look after their child ( Parents with a mental health problem: learning from case reviews | NSPCC Learning) 

The Think CHILD practice guidance toolkit and recorded briefing has been developed to support professionals to work collaboratively with parents via a conversational guide, to understand the impact of mental health on their children. This is increasingly important in the context of following the pandemic and current local and global matters which can amplify stress and mental health difficulties.

Key messages from the toolkit include:

• The purpose of the toolkit is not to assess mental health but to understand impact of mental health on children and young people
• Open conversations stimulate family and professional curiosity with regards to child and young persons lived experiences
• Open dialogue with other professionals and family and friends around mental health promotes improved understanding and supportive networks
• Mental health and wellbeing fluctuates and professionals and families need to be adaptable and respond to those changes

For further information visit Think Child Practice Guidance and view the recorded briefing Think CHILD - Assessing the impact of parental mental health on the child - YouTube