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One report shows that spending on child mental health services – such as school counselors and drop-in centers – has declined in real terms in more than a third of the regions of England.
The Children's Commissioner's study found that spending had increased by 17% overall, but many children were facing a lottery by zip code.
Anne Longfield said the numbers were "extremely worrying".
Officials said investing in these services was a priority.
"Before the crisis"
The report examined spending on so-called "low-level" mental health services to prevent or treat problems such as depression, eating disorders or anxiety, thus avoiding need for intensive and specialized intervention.
In general, half of the funding comes from the NHS and the other half from local authorities. The report found that the areas where spending was very high masked a greater proportion of areas where spending was low and there were wide variations across the country.
According to the report:
- Approximately £ 226 million was spent on basic mental health services for children in 2018-2019, an increase of 17% in real terms (taking into account inflation) compared to the previous year. ;last year.
- While the top quarter of local areas spent £ 1.1 million or more during the year, the remaining 25% spent £ 177,000 or less
- 58% of regions reported increased spending in real terms between 2018-2019
- But 37% saw a drop in real terms – often due to a reduction in local government spending
- In London, local authorities' expenses were £ 17.88 per child, compared with £ 5.32 in East England.
Ms. Longfield said, "This report reveals for the first time the postal lottery that faces a growing number of children suffering from low-level mental health issues such as anxiety and depression.
"The children I talk to who are suffering from anxiety or depression do not require intensive inpatient treatment, they just want to be able to talk to a counselor about their concerns and get advice on how to end to their problems turn into crisis. "
A statement from the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs said the government 's plans would allow 70,000 more children a year to have access to specialized mental health care by 2020-2021.
"Early intervention is vital and we go further by testing a four-week waiting time standard, training a whole new mental health staff in schools across the country, and teaching students what to do." looks like good mental and physical health. "
The charity YoungMinds said some young people had found the support of youth workers and school counselors to save lives and that the situation was extremely worrying.
Emma Thomas, executive director of the badociation, added: "If additional funds for NHS specialty services are obviously welcome, it is better for everyone that young people can get help. before their needs increase or they become critical.
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