Dáil Éireann Debate, Friday - 7 September 2018
269. Deputy Fiona O'Loughlin asked the Minister for Education and Skills the current and planned investment in mental health counselling at second level; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35831/18]
View answerWithin my Department’s Action Plan for Education in 2016/19 mental health and wellbeing promotion is afforded a high priority and is one of the key goals. My Department is strongly supportive of the promotion of positive mental health awareness in post-primary schools. The Department adopts a holistic and integrated approach to supporting schools in promoting positive mental health and to supporting those with a broad range of problems including behavioural, emotional and social.
To support this holistic approach my Department has published a Wellbeing Policy and Framework for Practice (2018-2023) for all schools which will inform how schools can promote student wellbeing. It is the Department’s aim that by 2023 all schools and centres for education will have embedded a dynamic Wellbeing Promotion Process which promotes a whole school preventative approach to the promotion of wellbeing with interventions at both universal and targeted levels. This approach is the most beneficial evidence informed approach for schools in the promotion of mental health and the support for students with mental health difficulties. The Wellbeing Policy includes an Implementation Plan with seven high level actions to support the realisation of the policy. Actions 2, 3 and 4 below focus on the need for the training of teachers which will include work with schools to ensure those students with most needs, including mental health needs, receive the highest level of support.
- Plan and provide for the national roll-out of a professional development process to facilitate all schools and centres for education to engage with and embed a Wellbeing Promotion Process which builds professional capacity and collaborative cultures in schools from 2018-2023.
- Provide for an aligned, comprehensive and easily-accessible programme of support for all schools and centres for education to address school-identified Wellbeing Promotion Needs.
- Consider how the system is meeting current and future teachers’ learning needs relating to wellbeing promotion.
The Wellbeing Policy also builds on the work already taking place in schools including the new Framework for Junior Cycle (2015) which places a clear emphasis on overall student health and wellbeing. This Framework is underpinned by eight principles, one of which is "Wellbeing" covering the development of key skills of “Managing Myself" and "Staying Well" which cover issues such as mental health and mental ill-health, dealing with tough times, loss and bereavement. A Junior Cycle Wellbeing programme was introduced to post primary schools in 2017 as part of the Framework for Junior Cycle which includes the implementation of curricular areas of Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) and Physical Education. Support for implementation of the national Wellbeing in Post Primary Schools Guidelines for Mental Health Promotion and Suicide Prevention (2013) is also encompassed within the Wellbeing Policy and Framework for Practice implementation.
Responsibility for provision of mental health services and counselling for young people lies with the Department of Health and the Health Service Executive. Schools are advised to identify supports and services that are available in their community, build relationships and agree referral pathways for students needing referral. The National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) provides psychological support and engages in collaborative work helping school staff including the school’s Guidance Counselling Service in how to access appropriate mental health services. Psychologists support schools in connecting with Primary Care Psychology Services and Child and Adolescent Mental Health services in relation to individual children and young people with mental health needs. Psychologists support and encourage the establishment of referral and communication protocols between education and health services at local level and work with others to develop community based mental health promotion strategies. In addition NEPS psychologists provide support to schools in implementing Student Support Teams in Post Primary Schools (2014). A project is planned for supporting three clusters of schools in Donegal, Dublin and Cork in developing or reviewing student support teams in post primary schools in September 2018.
NEPS also provides guidelines and resource materials for schools to enable them to deal with certain traumatic events which can adversely affect students and school staff. The guidelines responding to Critical Incidents: Guidelines and Resource Materials for Schools (2016) refer to preventive approaches that schools can adopt in creating a safe and supportive environment. It also outlines how schools can plan for crises. The publication provides support to schools at a potentially overwhelming time with practical step-by-step guidance for teachers and principals on how to respond when a tragedy occurs. The guidelines focus on alerting schools to planning processes, structures and actions which will better allow them to cope with traumatic incidents such as suicide or suspected suicide, murder, accidental death including road traffic accidents and drowning, and death through illness of members of the school community. In relation to suicide, advice is also given on prevention and positive mental health stratagems and approaches. NEPS psychologists will also, at the specific invitation of school authorities, attend at the schools immediately following such incidents to offer direct advice and assistance to school staff and students.
A Wellbeing Steering Committee is overseeing the implementation plan in the Wellbeing Policy Statement and Framework for Practice within my Department. It examines issues in relation to the co-ordination and aligning of the range of supports provided to schools in regard to wellbeing and mental health promotion. This involves coordinating the liaison with other Departments and Government agencies.
Significant resources and developments to achieve these actions have been committed to across a number of sections of the Department. NEPS capacity to enhance the educational psychological service to schools has been increased through the appointment of an additional 10 educational psychologists in the last academic year and a further 10 psychologists in 2018/19. The focus of part of this additional support, in the context of post-primary schools, is on extending the delivery of training in the Friends programmes to teachers in DEIS schools. This programme, when delivered by trained teachers, reduces anxiety and promotes coping, resilience and school-connectedness in young people thus promoting mental health.
Enhancing Guidance Counselling Provision at post-primary level has been achieved through improvements in the guidance allocation to schools, with Budgets 2016 and 2017 together seeing the allocation of the equivalent of 500 guidance posts, following budget measures in 2012 which removed the ex-quota provision for guidance posts (which amounted to some 600 posts). The 500 guidance posts which have now been restored will be allocated separately and transparently. This means that there is now an obligation on principals to ensure that these hours are used for guidance activities. Principals may decide to allocate more hours to guidance activities than the amount allocated on the schedule; they cannot decide to allocate fewer.
Circular Letter 0010/2017 ‘Approved Allocation of Teaching Posts 2017/18 School Year’ provides a separate guidance allocation to schools by reducing the Pupil-Teacher Ratio (PTR). The CL states that “Guidance plans should outline the school’s approach to guidance generally and how students can be supported and assisted in making choices and successful transitions in the personal and social, educational and career areas.” Schools are asked to consider “how best to align resource allocation with the objectives of the Guidance Plan”.
The Department also works with the Department of Health to promote participation by primary and post-primary schools in the Health Promoting Schools initiative, which is supported by the Health Service Executive. This European-wide programme aims to strengthen schools' capacity to be a healthy setting for learning and working by focusing on whole-school level conditions that affect health and wellbeing of children and young people.
Finding new ways of tackling policy issues that are not the sole responsibility of any one Government Department or agency has been prioritised by Government. My Department has been involved with the Task force on Youth Mental Health as part of the programme for Government. One of the challenges of providing a coordinated, streamlined approach to mental health promotion is the fact that there are so many statutory and voluntary agencies/services/NGOs involved. The Task Force was established to produce a series of action-focused recommendations to improve youth mental health. The main areas of focus comprised: emotional literacy and reduction of stigma; awareness of services and supports; accessibility to services and supports across different settings; alignment of services and supports across different providers; and building capacity in local communities. The report has been published and a memorandum has been agreed by the Government.
The work of implementing the Task force recommendations will be linked with the Youth Mental Health Pathfinder Project. Youth mental health and suicide prevention is one of three Pathfinder Projects under Action 5 of the Civil Service Renewal Plan (2014) and agreed by the Civil Service Management Board. This Youth Mental Health Pathfinder Project is an initiative to innovate and improve whole-of-Government working on cross-cutting policy issues and improve the delivery of shared whole-of-Government projects. The aim is to strengthen management and accountability of cross-cutting projects that involve multiple Departments, Offices and Agencies and ensure that policies that are not the priority or responsibility of a single body are effectively managed, supported and resourced.
