Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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961. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the current support services and targeted information classes and advice on existing mental health supports for children in the Louth and east Meath school catchments area; if she will identify the planned expansion of support services into the future; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21200/22]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The Department of Health and the HSE has responsibility for mental health services.My Department has built strong links with the Department of Health and both Departments are exploring ways to improve wellbeing and mental health supports for young people, including around increased awareness, promoting help-seeking behaviour and sign-posting to the wide range of available services. 

My Department’s approach to supporting wellbeing and mental health of young people is set out in its Wellbeing Policy Statement and Framework for Practice first published in 2018 and refreshed in 2019.  The approach proposed is a whole school and preventative approach which has multiple components that include providing children and young people with opportunities to:

- build core social and emotional skills and competencies

- experience supportive relationships within the school setting

- be part of a school environment and culture that feels both physically and psychologically safe, in which they feel a sense of belonging and connectedness, that theirvoice is heard, and they feel supported

Embedded in the whole-school approach is the recognition that members of the school community may have different needs at different times and that a continuum of support in relation to wellbeing should be made available.

The National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) of my Department  provides educational psychological support to all primary and post-primary schools. Psychologists work within a regional and local office structure serving the needs of schools in their immediate vicinity. This involves direct support in the event of a critical incident, access to national and regional support and development work to build school capacity to support students, access to a NEPS psychologist for responses to queries arising, and access to individual pupil casework where there is need via a NEPS psychologist. NEPS works closely with the HSE and its agencies to ensure those who may require further support are referred on to the appropriate clinical services for intervention and support.

The NEPS Support and Development service, reaching an estimated 25,000 teachers annually, is an applied psychological service for school staff to help build their capability to respond to the wellbeing, academic, social and emotional needs of all students, and particularly those who are experiencing barriers to their wellbeing, learning, inclusion and participation. Professional learning activities to support children/young people with social/emotional/mental health difficulties and to promote positive wellbeing in school include the FRIENDSprogrammes. These are evidence-based anxiety prevention and resilience building programmes, which foster self-concept and a sense of school belonging using Cognitive Behavioural Therapeutically-informed approaches. Friends programmes help students to develop resilience by teaching them effective strategies to cope with, problem solve and manage all kinds of emotional distress, including worry, stress, change and anxiety. The Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management programme is an evidence-based programme that equips teachers to manage their classrooms effectively to prevent and reduce behavioural problems while promoting children’s wellbeing and emotional and social competence.

NEPS have developed a series of webinars on the promotion of wellbeing and resilience in schools, including on trauma-informed approaches. The approaches outlined in the webinars are based on research findings, on the experience of experts in their fields and on the experience of practicing psychologists working in schools. The workshops will be available to build the capability of school staff in both primary and post-primary settings, including for school leaders, teachers and SNAs.