Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families

We know more about children’s mental health than we have ever done before.

Yet mental health disorders continue to rise, overwhelming our services.

Moreover, mental health interventions are not delivering the results we need.

This means only a small proportion of children and young people who need support are getting it and the support they are receiving isn’t effective enough.

Facts

  • One in eight children aged between 5 and 19 has at least one diagnostic mental health problem.
  • Less than 35% of children with mental health problems get any help.
  • Around 60% of children in care are reported to have an emotional or health problem.
  • Young people who identify as LGBTQ+ are two-and-a-half times more likely to report a mental health problems that those who identify as heterosexual.

The only way to resolve these issues is by doing things differently.

We believe that by working in collaboration with communities and professionals, that together we can scale up our support for millions of infants, children and young people and their families.  

We reach over one million children and young people through schools and colleges by providing trusted resources, training and supporting the workforce and researching how best to support pupils and students.

We nurture and protect children and young people by developing support for infants, children, young people and their families from conception to 25 by bringing together the best in science, research, policy and practice.

We are building a world-class workforce for the UK. Last year we trained over 8,000 mental health professionals and we currently have 330 post-graduate students.

We develop resources based on our findings and sharing them through our learning networks.

Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families

We know more about children’s mental health than we have ever done before.

Yet mental health disorders continue to rise, overwhelming our services.

Moreover, mental health interventions are not delivering the results we need.

This means only a small proportion of children and young people who need support are getting it and the support they are receiving isn’t effective enough.

Facts

  • One in eight children aged between 5 and 19 has at least one diagnostic mental health problem.
  • Less than 35% of children with mental health problems get any help.
  • Around 60% of children in care are reported to have an emotional or health problem.
  • Young people who identify as LGBTQ+ are two-and-a-half times more likely to report a mental health problems that those who identify as heterosexual.

The only way to resolve these issues is by doing things differently.

We believe that by working in collaboration with communities and professionals, that together we can scale up our support for millions of infants, children and young people and their families.  

We reach over one million children and young people through schools and colleges by providing trusted resources, training and supporting the workforce and researching how best to support pupils and students.

We nurture and protect children and young people by developing support for infants, children, young people and their families from conception to 25 by bringing together the best in science, research, policy and practice.

We are building a world-class workforce for the UK. Last year we trained over 8,000 mental health professionals and we currently have 330 post-graduate students.

We develop resources based on our findings and sharing them through our learning networks.


https://www.annafreud.org/