Child Death Review Programme

Tracey Breheny, the Welsh Government's Deputy Director of Mental Health, Substance Misuse and Vulnerable Groups has issued a letter in relation to a Child Death Review Programme to ensure they are doing all that they can to identify those young people at risk of suicide, and to strengthen preventative measures.

The key themes in the review identified opportunities for preventative activity, and indicate where more focused support should be considered. The particular vulnerabilities identified are:

• Looked after children
• Children on the Child Protection Register
• Those with a history of self harm
• Those in a family known to social services
• Those previously bereaved or directly impacted by a suicide
• Those living in more disadvantaged or under-served communities

The settings identified by the review for focussed intervention include the school and sports clubs attended by the child or young person who has died.

The review also recommended that a package of support is made available to include support for children and young people to know how and when to seek help. Please help to disseminate this information via your local networks generally, but also targeted to those key groups included above. This information is included in Annex 1 of the letter and also below.

Suicide and Self-Harm Guidance Launched to Support Schools
Repository - Hwb 
Mental Health Toolkit - Low Mood