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Creating a Safe Haven in Schools: Refugee and Asylum-Seeking Children's and Young People's Mental Health

NCJ Number
239456
Journal
Child Abuse Review Volume: 21 Issue: 3 Dated: May-June 2012 Pages: 219-226
Author(s)
Carl Dutton
Date Published
June 2012
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This article reports on the development and implementation of the Haven Project, an early assessment and intervention service based in schools in Liverpool, England.
Abstract
The Haven Project is an early assessment and intervention service based in schools in Liverpool, England. The project was begun in 2003 as a joint initiative between a community organization and the city council's education provision aimed at supporting the achievement of Black and Minority Ethnic children. The primary focus of the initiative is to deliver coordinated services to vulnerable groups of children, mainly asylum and refugee children, across many agencies and organizations. The report highlights the development of the project and its use in schools, and discusses improvements made to the project as a result of project evaluations conducted in 2005 and 2008. The article highlights the different therapies used by team members to provide timely and appropriate mental health interventions to a population of young people that do not have regular or traditional access to mental health services. The report discusses the three key considerations that are necessary to successfully provide services to this group of vulnerable children: consistency, communication, and participation. 11 references