Parental Mental Health and Child Welfare Network - Network events

Network Launch

On 09 July 2004 a conference in London launched the Parental Mental Health and Child Welfare Network which is the first ever national Network to promote joint working between adult mental health and children's services.

Network coordinator, Marie Diggins, said the Network was established in response to the urgent need to improve joint working between adult mental health and children's services. Her sentiments were echoed by more than 200 delegates who attended the conference to discuss issues related to parental mental health and child welfare.

Mark Davies, Deputy Director Care Services for Children and Mental Health at the Department of Health, spoke at the conference, saying that in the future, decisions on service delivery will be made locally to ensure needs are best met. Davies praised the Network and said it should play a central role in the new structure of health and social services.

The Splinter Theatre Group presented a play exaggerating the mistakes practitioners can make working with children and families. The audience was encouraged to suggest ways they could provide a better support service for a family with a parent with a mental health problem.

Download workshop reports here:

• A management perspective on getting child care services and adult mental health services to work together (29kb PDF file)
• Identifying and addressing the needs of parents with a mental health problem (notes currently not available)
• Delivering training to multi-agency audiences using the Crossing Bridges training support programme (292kb PDF file)
• Keeping the family in mind (34kb PDF file)
• Learning about risk assessment and risk management from other countries (86kb PDF file)
• Outcomes for children of living with and caring for parents with severe and enduring mental illness (84kb PDF file)
• The East London experience (36kb PDF file)
• Working with families with a parent with a mental health problem: What works? (124kb PDF file)
• Being seen and heard (30kb PDF file).