Social, Emotional & Mental Health Competency Framework for Staff Working with Children and Young People

Mental health should be everybody’s business. Therefore, this Multi-Agency Social Emotional Mental Health Competency Framework for staff working with Children and Young People in Sandwell is aimed at all staff- from caretakers to teachers, community transport drivers to youth workers, by outlining role appropriate levels of skill, knowledge and training.  It aims to encourage all staff to work together to support the children and young people of Sandwell, and one another- knowing their limitations and how to escalate concerns.

This framework has separate competencies for those working with children and young people at different ages: early years, primary school, secondary school and college, with clear enhancements included where necessary for children and young people with additional needs.

The framework itself is comprised of four components:

• Groups of competencies: core, enhanced and targeted
• Suggestions of staff roles for whom each group of competencies is most likely to be relevant
• A self-assessment tool
• Suggested training options to gain the needed skills and knowledge

Implementing the framework follows three overarching steps for members of staff:

1. Align to a competency group
2. Complete the self-assessment
3. Undertake the training

Endorsed by the Health & Wellbeing Board and the Thrive Board, we are encouraging professionals to use the framework as part of their continual professional development through appraisals and one-to-ones.

Disclaimer: When downloading the framework we are asking professionals to provide their name, their job role, the organisation they work for and their email address. This is so we can monitor engagement with the framework, distribute updated versions of the framework to those who are already using it and we will be conducting a survey at the end of this year to gather feedback from professionals to understand the impact on work practices.