Mr. Paul Longmore:

Parents are the people who are most concerned about their children and the young people in their lives and that does not cease when their children turn 18. It can be particularly difficult for parents when their young adult children are experiencing difficulties and they are seeking to support them. We have to provide support to those parents and one of the measures Jigsaw took during the Covid-19 restrictions was to introduce a freephone service. Young people contacted us in other ways but it was interesting that the freephone service was primarily used by parents who were seeking advice, guidance and information about their children who they were concerned about. In some cases, these were adult children.

A balance needs to be struck between respecting the autonomy and independence of young people who are over 18 and providing them with avenues to access supports that are suitable for them. To that end, Jigsaw has tried to introduce low threshold entry points into service support, such as live webtext and email contact, which might make it easier for those over 18 who are not necessarily being facilitated by a parent to come to a service. They can take that initial step themselves. They do not need to have a referral from another professional. They can choose to access a service and explore it to see if it might meet their needs. We must be cognisant that the needs of a young person aged between 18 and 25 might be slightly different from those of the general adult population.