The lowdown, on behalf of the REACH Partnership of Youth Counselling Services, have been commissioned to deliver an innovative new project to support young people making the transition from Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAHMS) to Adult Mental Health Services. RE:Start is exclusively for 16 – 25 year olds, who live in Northamptonshire, and need additional support with navigating mental health services.
This time can already be challenging for many young people, with big life changes and transitions being difficult to navigate – without adding mental health issues on top of this. RE:Start will work on a referral basis, which can be done as a self-referral or can be done by a professional on your behalf.
RE:Start will operate on a personal, goal-driven and holistic approach to the support provided to you. Building trust and gaining a robust understanding of your needs, whether this be with education, employment, housing or any other complex area of life which is made more difficult when navigating the world of mental health services. This flexible approach will allow us to not be a time-limited service, we can offer support for as long or as little as you need, and in agreement with your allocated support worker to meet your agreed upon goals.
The ethos and culture of the service will be solution-focused, strengths-based, personalised, flexible and will be able to work with a variety of complex needs, regardless of diagnosis.
The team of support workers at the lowdown will cover the West Northamptonshire area. If you would like see our team, please visit our ‘Meet the team’ page. There is also a team of support workers in the North Northamptonshire area – Corby, Kettering, Wellingborough and anywhere further East of the county. To access the service for this area please visit https://www.youthworksnorthamptonshire.org.uk/restart/
Send a referral
RE:Start Referral Form
Data protection agreement
In this form we ask for some personal information, including contact details and information relating to personal history etc. in order to fulfil your request for service with us.
Our registration number with the Information Commissioner’s Office is ZA145836. Please read the privacy notice for counselling and support services to ensure you understand how we process personal data.
Here is our privacy notice on our Policies page.
Eligibility Criteria
We aim to be able to support as many young people as we can, however we do have some eligibility criteria that needs to be met. To qualify for the service you must be:
- Aged 16 – 25 (from your 16th birthday to your 26th birthday);
- Residing in Northamptonshire;
- Not be in Local Authority Care (LAC) or currently working with the Leaving Care Team;
- Requiring support around navigating mental health services, accessing adult mental health services, or support in other life areas which is made more difficult by the mental health diagnosis.
We thought it might also be useful to provide some examples of the kinds of people we could work with, the below are just examples and are not exhaustive. We could work with someone who is or will be:
- Transitioning Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAHMS) to Adult Mental Health Services and need support with this.
- Ending work with CAHMS, but doesn’t meet the threshold for Adult Services but still feels that support is required.
- Ending work with CAHMS, and meets threshold for Adult Services but may not require this if low-level additional support can be implemented.
- Presenting at Adult Services for the first time, but feels that transitional support would be beneficial.
- Considered as high risk or vulnerable as have not engaged or disengaged with CAMHS or Adult Mental Health Services, but this can be justified because the complexities of their mental health situation causing barriers to access/engagement.
- Not formally given a diagnosis but the level of impact on mental health meets our service thresholds and a justification can be given why diagnosis has yet to be made.
Please be aware that this is not a service designed to replace any counselling, therapy or other medical treatments which you are undertaking. This is an additional support service designed to help you navigate services and access other areas which have been made more difficult by mental health issues.
Frequently Asked Questions
Below is a list of frequently asked questions we receive about the service:
- How old do I need to be to access this service? We can support anyone from their 16th birthday up until the day of their 26th birthday.
- Do I get to choose my support worker? Support workers are matched in accordance with a variety of factors, however if you have an extenuating reason why you would need a specific support worker then please discuss this in your assessment.
- What happens if I need to raise a complaint? Your first point of contact should be your support worker, however if you feel you cannot do this then please refer to our Complaints Procedure on our Policies Page.
- Will you tell my parent/guardian I am accessing this service? As with any support service we respect the confidentiality of our young people, however if you are under 18 and a situation or disclosure arises that puts yourself or someone else in danger then we may need to contact your named trusted adult. If this was to occur we would always endeavour to have your consent beforehand.
- Where would I see my support worker? We hold our sessions in rooms above The House of Dapper on the Wellingborough Road . We can also offer sessions in the community at a mutually agreed location for you, such as at your college or local library.
- How long can I access the service for? There is no limit on how many sessions we can provide, however it is a goal-based service so once these have been met, it may be a natural conclusion.
- Are there any limits on the times I can contact or see my support worker? We do have ‘office hours’, as with any service, however we are also flexible and may be able to offer times outside of these. This can be discussed with your support worker.
- If I disengage with the service can I re-engage at a later time? Yes, if you feel like you need our support after leaving the service, providing you still meet the criteria, you can re-engage with us.
- How is the data you collect about me used and stored? Please refer to our Privacy Notice for full information regarding this.
- Is this a counselling service? No, this service is additional support to help you navigate accessing services and assisting with other life difficulties. It is not designed to, nor should it, replace any counselling, therapy or other treatments which you are having.
Contact Details
If you would like to speak with someone to get more information or to talk through any questions or concerns then please get in touch with Helen Heng at the lowdown:
Phone: 01604 634385 | E-mail: helenheng@thelowdownnorthampton.co.uk
Alternatively, if you are looking to make contact with the RE:Start team in North of Northamptonshire, please contact Sarah Bream – RE:Start Team Leader:
Phone: 01536 518339 | E-mail: sbream@youthworksnorthamptonshire.org.uk
