One potentially important finding from our research is that mental health needs are high for young people who have experienced any major forms of maltreatment. These findings have potential implications for assessment practices and service provision. Supported by the CAPE award and facilitated by NCB, we conducted two workshops, one with policy makers from various departments including the Department for Education and Department for Health and Social Care and one with key parties from other third sector organisations. Again, NCB’s guidance was crucial in helping us combine research evidence with the perspectives of those with lived experience to produce an effective and sensitive account of the policy-relevant findings. The research findings were well received by attendees, with several expressing that the findings reflected much of what they were hearing “on the ground.”

These workshops helped us share findings from the research with senior policy officials and also facilitated an ongoing dialogue with policy-makers. This has included discussion of how harm to children gets defined, and how adversity intersects with other factors to contribute to mental-ill health. Following the workshops policy makers have expressed a desire for further meetings with our team to discuss policy implications arising from our current work on mental health and suicide among young people with social work involvement. Additionally, these workshops helped us create new connections with colleagues from NHS England and the Ministry of Justice.

CAPE funding also enabled us to conduct knowledge exchange workshops with colleagues from leading third sector and practice-focused organisations. Sector colleagues described the importance of our findings as “huge” and as a result of these workshops we have been invited to deliver further talks to various policy and practice audiences. The workshops and work with experts-by-experience have been drawn on to develop policy recommendations based on the research findings.