Parental Mental Health and Child Welfare Network - Resources

On this page:

• Top ten resources for support for Parents with a Mental Health Problem
• Parental Mental Health Issues
• Perinatal depression
• Families
• Substance Use
• Children and Young People Mental Health and Wellbeing
• Education and training
• Reports
• Policy
• Practice
• Research
• Young carers
• Funding opportunities.

If you would like to have your resource included on the Parental Mental Health and Child Welfare Network website please contact the Network administrator.

Top Ten Resources for Families

1. How to parent in a crisis. Mind, 2004. This excellent booklet aims to help parents who are going through a difficult time to avoid reaching crisis point. It looks at some of the problems that can arise for parents and children, and suggests strategies for overcoming them. It also explains how you and your family can get further support and assistance, should you want to.

2. Parents with mental health problems. Mental Health Foundation 2007. Brief resource aimed at professionals, children and parents.

3. Being Seen and Heard . Royal College of Psychiatrists. A training package providing practical and creative suggestions about working with children and parents. It contains clips of children, young people and their parents talking about their experiences of mental illness and how professional can work effectively with them.

4. Parental Mental Health Problems: messages from research, policy and practice . Research into Practice. By Jo Tunnard 2004

5. Working together to support disabled parents This report shows how to develop inter agency protocols to support families in which parents have additional needs related to physical and/or sensory impairments, learning disabilities, mental health, drug and alcohol-related problems or serious illnesses. Jenny Morris and Michele Waites. March 2008.

6. Poverty Parenting and Social Exclusion: SCIE e-learning resource, bringing to life key aspects of poverty, parenting and social exclusion with particular reference to children and families.

7. Working with families with alcohol, drug and mental health problems. This report focuses on the policies and practices that can promote integrated services to families. By Patricia Kearney, Enid Levin and Gwen Rosen. June 2003.

8. Parents in Hospital: How mental health services can best promote family contact when a parent is in hospital. Barnados, June 2007. A stay in hospital can represent a significant crisis, not just in terms of a parent’s individual mental health but of family life overall, and may have long term repercussions beyond the period of hospitalisation itself. The findings of this report suggest that this can be re-framed as an opportunity for services to provide more holistic care.

9. Stress and resilience factors in parents with mental health problems and their children. This SCIE briefing focuses on factors contributing to either stress or resilience in families where one or both parents have mental health problems. It considers the position of parents and children focusing upon issues of stress or resilience arising from individual and ‘informal’ sources. By Lester Parrott, Gaby Jacobs and Diane Roberts. March 2008.

10. Also, recommended by Princess Royal Trusts for Carers Information for parents with mental health or substance misuse problems:

• Explaining Alzheimer’s Syndrome to Children advice sheet (from The Alzheimer’s Society):
• ‘Information for parents’ leaflet for alcoholic parents produced by the National Association for Children Of Alcoholics (NACOA).
• Making Time to Talk leaflet (explaining mental illness to your child, from NSF Scotland):
• Parents Using Drugs website – as above, this also offers resources to parents, including key messages from children about how to support them.

Parental Mental Health Issues

• Barnardo's Keeping the Family in Mind Resource Pack (PDF file), including a video and young carers pack explaining mental health with their own drawings etc. For further details email louise.wardale@barnardos.org.uk
• Checklist for professionals coming into contact with the children of parents with mental health problems, Royal College of Psychiatrists
• Children of Parents with a Mental Illness (COPMI), Australian website containing a range of many helpful downloadable resources.
• Family Minded - Barnardo's report supporting children in families affected by mental illness.
• How to parent when you're in a crisis, Mind
• Parents with mental health illness Mental Health Foundation
• Does severe mental illness run in the family?, Rethink
• How to parent when you are in crisis (Mind 2004)
• Mind out for Mental Health - a hands-on organisation with a considerable proportion of its staff engaged in the day-to-day care of members or helping with the issues that affect the wellbeing of their carers
• Parental mental illness - the problems for children (PDF file), Mental Health and Growing Up series, Second Edition, The Royal College of Psychiatrists 1999
• Sanctuary Issue 2 - Inner Space for Women's Mental Well-being - contains an article on postnatal depression. For more information on Sanctuary, please contact Megan Aspel
• SCIE Research Briefing 23: Stress and Resilience Factors in parents with mental health problems and their children. This briefing focuses on factors contributing to either stress or resilience in families where one or both parents have mental health problems. It considers the position of parents and children focusing upon issues of stress or resilience arising from individual and ‘informal’ sources. While recognising the role that services have in mediating either stress or resilience, the briefing does not consider service interventions or evaluations, as these are the subject of a SCIE systematic review to be published separately. Published March 2008.
• SCIE Research Briefing 25 - Children and Young People's Experiences of domestic violence involving adults in a parenting role
• Still waiting for an answer (order form 997kb PDF file) - A short film documenting the development of the Parental Mental Health Service illustrating how a pragmatic approach to service design and partnership work can respond to the needs of families where a carer has a mental health problem.
  Central and North West London Mental Health NHS Trust in partnership with NSPCC are keen to promote this model that won a commendation from the Secretary of State for Health for excellence in healthcare management in 2004.
  As well as the film a range of support is available to agencies interested in developing a similar type of provision that includes clinic-based open mornings, facilitated workshops and consultation. For more information contact Amynta Cardwell Clinical Strategy Manager.
• The father I had (article on Daily Express website)
  Growing up with a manic depressive father, Martin Townsend experienced the torment and dread that his father's mood swings brought. Now Editor of the Sunday Express, he has written a sad, touching but, above all, fond memoir of the man he loved and admired – in spite of his illness.
• Book; Working with Men in Health and Social Care. Written by practitioners and academics, this book brilliantly links theory, policy and practice. After exploring the theory and politics of masculinity, the authors move to practice models; work with men as individuals and in groups, in families and communities. They then look at work with different types of males; fathers, abusive men, boys and young men, older men, men who suffer physical or mental impairment. This thought provoking and topical book is essential reading for students and academics in social work, health care, probation, counselling and allied disciplines - and for practitioners. Order online
• Parental mental health problems: Messages from research, policy and practice by Jo Tunnard, published by Research in Practice. For copies contact jopoke@rip.org.uk or www.rip.org.uk
• Parenting in Poor Environments, a research study focussing on the issue of parental stress, by Policy Research Bureau, 2002.
• Supporting Parents: messages from research, by David Quinton, Research in Practice, 2004.
• Troubled Lives - Psychiatric morbidity in children living with psychotic parents, Department of Child and Family Psychiatry. Falkov, A. (1995), London:UMDS & West Lambeth
• The psychological effects of parental mental health on children experiencing disaster, 2003 Emine Zinnur Kilic, Halise Devrimci Ozguven, Iaik Sayil.
• Making Time to Talk Leaflet: Information for parents (NSF Scotland)
• Explaining Alzheimer's to Children Advice Sheet (Alzheimer's Society)

Perinatal Depression

• Postnatal Depression leaflet: produced by The Royal College of Psychiatrists, this leaflet is for anyone who suffers from postnatal depression, for family and friends, and for anyone who wants to know more about this problem.

Families

• The Fatherhood Institute: Website collating the research on fatherhood; helping shape the Government's family policy; influencing the public debate on fathers and training family services to be father-inclusive.
• Family Minded - Barnardo's report supporting children in families affected by mental illness.
• SCIE Research Briefing 25 - Children and Young People's Experiences of domestic violence involving adults in a parenting role
• Law and Parents: The extent to which we can be held responsible for our childrens' behaviour can be a murky area. This site explains the law and your rights.
• MIB Families: the role of black men in families is a neglected area of family research.
• Babyfather Initiative - The BabyFather Alliance, set up by Patrick Augustus over ten years ago, aims to encourage responsible parenting amongst black males in the UK, particularly those separated from their children.
• PATCH - Parents Apart from their Children. A new group which meets regularly in Nottingham City centre aiming to bring disempowered parents together for mutual support.

Substance Use

• Drugs in the family: the impact on parents and siblings a study carried out by Marina Barnard at Glasgow University issued by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation
• Problem drinking parents and their children: this is a new resource for professionals working with these families

Children and Young People Mental Health Issues

• Children and Young People's CBT skills training workshops
• Safeguarding in Fragmented Families: notes from PMHCWN network study day held in November 07
• Choosing what's best for you (PDF)
  What scientists have found helps children and young people who are sad, worried or troubled.
• Falling through the Gaps: service for children and adolescent mental health (PDF file), by Rachael Hetherington et al, Social Perspectives Network, 2003.
• Fatal Child Abuse and Parental Psychiatric Disorder - Department of Child and Family Psychiatry Falkov, A (1996), London UMDS & West Lambeth.
• Feeling Good: Promoting Children's Mental Health, The Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health 2005
• Children Can Understand, Unicorns and Magic Rainbows, Children and Bullying - three booklets by Heide Lloyd presented in a child-friendly format, for children in families where a parent, main carer or other special person has mental health problems. To obtain a copy, contact Heide Lloyd on heide@lloyd8888.fsworld.co.uk, or if difficulties are encountered, contact spn@scie.org.uk
• Drawing on the Evidence Advice for mental health professionals working with children and adolescents (PDF 239kb)
• The Interfaces Project: Exploring the links between mental health services for children, adults and families, by Tony Gillam, Marie Crofts, Gráinne Fadden, Keren Corbett, NIMHE, NHS, The Meriden West Midlands Family Programme, 2004.
• The Mental Health Needs of Homeless Young People, a report commissioned by The Mental Health Foundation and written by Jo Stephens, Barnardos, August 2002.
• A Sibling's Guide to Psychosis (Canadian Mental Health Association) – good guide for professionals to hand out to young people
• Young person's introduction to mental health (MIND)
• Mental illness in your family (Young Minds)

Education and Training

• Being Seen and Heard, a training package providing practical and creative suggestions about working with children and parents. It contains clips of children, young people and their parents talking about their experiences of mental illness and how professional can work effectively with them. A CD-ROM of additional resources is enclosed with the video.
• Crossing Bridges, a training resource for working with mentally ill parents and their children. Commissioned by the Department of Health.
• It's a Carer's Life - this is a useful training tool produced by East London and the City Mental Health Trust.  It is helpful for staff already in the profession as well as highlighting some of the pitfalls of current practice for those who will be joining the ranks of mental health workers. To obtain a copy e-mail: Michelle.Garner@ELCMHT.NHS.UK
• Professional Resource Pack, Pisces Carers' Support Team (1999). A resource pack for those working with families who are living with schizophrenia.
• Poverty, Parenting and Social Exclusion - SCIE e-learning resource, bringing to life key aspects of poverty, parenting and social exclusion with particular reference to children and families.
• Promoting Children's Mental Health Guidance (PDF file), Department for Education and Skills.
• Safeguarding Children e-Academy - The aim of the Safeguarding Children e-Academy is to improve the education and training process for those individuals and organisations who work with children.
• The Bird and the Word, Mind education pack, materials for mental health education in secondary schools key stage 2 and 6 forms. Mind 2001.
• Young People's Introduction to Mental Health, Mind factsheet updated by Inger Hatloy, Mind Information Unit, January 2004.
• Information on Courses on child and adolescent mental health at the Tavistock Institute
• Postgraduate Certificate in Emotional Well-being in Children and Families: Interprofessional Practice
• Postgraduate Diploma/MA In Child and Adolescent Primary Mental Health Care Work
• Postgraduate Certificate/Diploma/MA in Child Protection and Complex Child Care
  Postgraduate Diploma/MA in Fostering and Adoption Studies
• SCIE Research Briefing 24 - Experiences of children and young people caring for a parent with a mental health problem.

Reports, Books and Journal Articles

• Report of an Independent Inquiry into the Care and Treatment of Daksha Emson M.B.B.S., MRCPsych, MSc. and her Daughter Freya (PDF file), North East London Strategic Health Authority 2003
• Young Carers in the UK: the 2004 Report (Carers National Association)
• Aldridge J and Becker S (2003) Children Caring for parents with mental illness: perspectives of young carers, parents and professionals. The Policy Press
• Bassett, H Lampe, J and Lloyd , C (1999) Parenting: experiences and feelings of parents with a mental illness, Journal of Mental Health 8, 6, 597-604
• Child Protection and Mental Health Services, Nicky Stanley et al, The Policy Press, September 2003
• Children's Needs in the Mental Health Bill, YoungMinds response to government consultation on Draft Mental Health Bill
• Meeting the Mental Health Needs of Children in the Child Protection System, Deborah Ghate, Sunita Bhabra, Policy Research Bureau, 2004
• Parental psychiatric disorder: distressed parents and their families, Michael Gopfert et al. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge U.P., 1995.
• Supporting Parents, Safeguarding Children (795kb PDf file), a CSCI report published in February 2006
• Castlebury, K (1988) Helping children adapt to the psychiatric hospitalization of a parent Psychiatric Hospital 19, 4, 155-160
• Fredman, G and Fuggle, P (2000) Parents with mental health problems – involving the children. In
• P. Reder, M. McClure and A, Jolley (eds) Family matters: interfaces between child and adult mental health London : Routledge
• Gopfert M, Webster J and Seeman M V (eds) (2004) Parental psychiatric disorder (second edition) Cambridge University Press
• Hawes, V and Cottrill, D (1999) Disruption of children’s lives by maternal psychiatric admission Psychiatric Bulletin 23: 153-156
• Hetherington R, Baistow K, Katz I, Mesie J and Trowell J (2002) The welfare of children with mentally ill parents: learning from inter-country comparisons Chichester : John Wiley.
• Rutter, M and Quinton, D (1984) Parental psychiatric disorder: effects on children Psychological Medicine, 14, 853-880
• Stanley N, Penhale B, Riordan D, Barbour R, Holden S (2003) Child protection and mental health services: inter-professional responses to the needs of mothers The Policy Press
• Stanley N et al (2003) Professional responses to families with identified mental health and child care needs Health and Social Care in the Community 11, 3, 208-18
• Tamarit, ML and Yin-Har Lau, A (1999) Children’s needs when their mothers are admitted to psychiatric units Psychiatric Bulletin 23, 4: 214-217

Practice

• Children and Young People Factsheet, by Katherine Darton, March 1998, Mind Updated by: George Stewart, March 2001.
• Family Support Network leaflet (91kb PDF file) - South Somerset Mind
• Initial Protocols for Shared Care of Common Mental Illnesses in East London, East London and City Mental Health Trust, City & Hackney Newham & Tower-Hamlets PCTs. (in process of being updated)
• Resource pack for people working with young carers (Princess Royal Trust for Carers)
• Safeguarding in Fragmented Families: Notes from PMHCWN Study Day, November 2007
• SCIE Report 2: Working with families with alcohol, drug and mental health problems. This report looks at joint working between adult mental health and child care services for families where a parent has a persistent mental health, alcohol or drug problem. It provides examples of good practice, a summary of findings and recommendations.
• SCIE Resource guide 1: Families that have alcohol and mental health problems: A template for partnership working. This guide looks at how to delivery high quality, coordinated adult mental health and child care services to families with a parent who misuses alcohol or who has a mental health problem. It promotes the use of collaborative protocols to further good practice and provides a template for agencies to use when developing local initiatives.
• Supporting Depressed Parents: Isolated and Depressed Mothers of Children under Five, The Mental Health Foundation.
• Young Carers' Guidance for Schools and Education Departments (The Princess Royal Trust for Carers)

Research

• Black parenting - Beyond Father Absence: An Investigation into Black Fathering and Child Outcomes in Britain
  By Dr Jeune Alyson Guishard-Pine
  http://www.nineninepine.com/ and follow route to research section.
• Building Bridges Model - Evaluation
  Jenny Morris, Family Welfare Association, July 2007, Summary here
• NSPCC (2002) Mentally Ill Parents and Children's Welfare
• Parental Mental Health Problems: Key Messages from Research, Policy and Practice Tunnard J (Research in Practice)
• The health and wellbeing of young carers: Research Briefing 11 (SCIE)

Young Carers

• Being A Young Carer (238kb PDF file) - this report is produced by the Commission for Social Care Inspection and gives a clear account of what it's like to be a young carer, as described by young carers themselves
• Caring around the clock (PDF file), booklet with information and support for young people, The Royal College of Psychiatrists.
• Children Caring for Parents with Mental Illness: Perspectives of Young Carers, Parents and Professionals, by Jo Aldridge, Saul Becker, The Policy Press, March 2003.
• Children Caring for Parents with Severe and Enduring Mental illness (PDF file), by Jo Aldridge, Saul Becker, Chris Dearden, Centre for Child and Family Research, Loughborough University, October 2002.
• Children in care, Children who Care: Parental Illness and Disability and the Child Care (PDF file), by Chris Dearden and Saul Becker, Young Carers Research Group, Loughborough University, April 1997.
• Finding My Way: A Teen’s Guide to Living with a Parent Who Has Experienced Trauma - Seeds of Hope Books
• Hidden Children: A Study of Ex-Young Carers of Parents with Mental Health Problems in Leeds, by Elliott, A. (1992) Leeds City Council Department of Social Services
• I’m Not Alone: A Teens Guide to Living with a Parent Who Has a Mental Illness - Seeds of Hope Books
• Making it work: good practice with young carers and their families, Frank J (2002) The Children's Society and the Princess Royal Trust for Carers: London
• Parents in Hospital: How mental health services can best promote family contact when a parent is in hospital (July 2007) - A stay in hospital can represent a significant crisis, not just in terms of a parent’s individual mental health but of family life overall, and may have long term repercussions beyond the period of hospitalisation itself. The findings of this report suggest that this can be re-framed as an opportunity for services to provide more holistic care.
• SCIE Resource Guide 9 "Working together to support disabled parents" shows how to develop inter agency protocols to support families with additional needs
• SCIE Knowledge Review 11 - supporting disabled parents and parents with additional support needs
• The health and wellbeing of young carers: Research Briefing 11 (SCIE)
• Young Minds magazine - news, analysis, parliamentary coverage, opinion, features, reviews, conferences and appointments.
• Young Carers, parents and their families: Key Principles of Practice, Frank J and McLarnon J. The Children's Society, For more information please e-mail Toni-Marie Smith‌ or download a order form. A supportive online resource, the Whole Family Pathway, designed to be used alongside this book is available here.
• Young Carers in their own words (Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation)
• “When a Parent has a Mental Illness: Helping Children Cope” -  A leaflet produced for carers and professionals to provide support for young mental health carers. Produced by the World Fellowship for Schizophrenia and Allied Disorders. Available free to order at the World Schizophrenia Fellowship publication index.
• “Leave my stuff alone! A story for young teen siblings” - A leaflet for young mental health carers produced by the World Fellowship for Schizophrenia and Allied Disorders. Available free to order at the World Schizophrenia Fellowship publication index.
• www.youngcarers.net - includes useful information for young people who may be caring for someone with a mental health illness. This includes information on different types of mental health conditions, such as depression and anxiety, as well as information on different organisations that may be able to help.
• Checklist for Professionals working with young mental health carers (Royal College of Psychiatrists)
• It's about you too! Leaflet: Information for young carers 8 - 10 (NSF Scotland)
• Need to Know Leaflet: Information for young carers 11 - 14 (NSF Scotland)

Funding opportunities

You may find the following information of use. If you would like to receive regular updates directly, go to www.governmentfunding.org.uk.

• Safeguarding children supporting families grants: national project grants - Section 64 of the Health Services and Public Health Act 1968 gives the Secretary of State for Education and Skills the power to make grants to voluntary organisations in England whose activities support DfES' policy priorities for children's social care. The aim of the Safeguarding Children and Supporting Families Grants scheme (SCSF) is to strengthen and further develop the partnership between the DfES and the voluntary and community sector. Funding supports innovative projects of national significance that complement statutory services, and help secure and promote high-quality children's social care in England.
• Strengthening families grants - The aim of the Strengthening Families grant programme is to support and develop activities which enable families to get access to information, help and advice. The programme has been formed by the merger of the Marriage and Relationship Support (MARS) and Family Support (FSG) grant programmes, following the creation of the DfES Children, Young People and Families Directorate. Development Grants are available to fund work on marriage and relationship support and parenting for up to three years. One year Infrastructure Grants are also available to fund work on marriage and relationship support only.