Debate contribution: Children’s Mental Health: Cross-departmental Cooperation
Debate contribution by Ms Diane Forsythe on .
- MLA
- Ms Diane Forsythe
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 30 September 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Opposition Business
- Heading
- Children’s Mental Health: Cross-departmental Cooperation
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4564139
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I thank the Opposition for highlighting children's mental health in the motion. Sitting with a family in tears over the lack of services available for a child who is facing a mental health crisis is, sadly, not unusual. There can be no doubt that children's social services in Northern Ireland face unprecedented pressures. That has a residual impact on the mental health of children who are in care or are regarded as being in need. The impact of the pandemic cannot be overstated: the number of children in care at the end of October 2023 was 17% higher than the last official figure prior to COVID. The breakdown of children's services has also massively impacted on the mental health and well-being of many parents and carers. Unacceptable wait times for assessment, barriers to accessing services and, in particular, a lack of respite services have placed huge strains on many families. We want to see the Health Minister urgently set out his stall in response to the wide-ranging recommendations on structures, staffing and oversight of children's services included in the independent review report published last year. Departments should, of course, work together. I recognise the Children's Services Co-operation Act and the lack of its uptake in practice. However, I agree with the previous Member, who said that the Health Minister should take the lead on cooperation with other Departments. We need to see a removal of the silo-working mentality between Departments, health trusts and local health services. Of course, the Health Minister may access and apply the Children's Services Co-operation Act in doing so. We fully support the aim of investigating an effective model of cross-departmental cooperation on children's services. It is great to see the Finance Minister here, and I look forward to hearing her assessment of the lack of use of the Children's Services Co-operation Act, but, as we move forward, the key priority will be to address children's mental health. It is for the Health Minister to take urgent steps to lead that forward in order to address the crisis of the real devastation that many families here find themselves in.
353 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.03 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.96).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- Subject area: Disability (including neurodivergence and mental health), disabled people and disability or sickness benefits.
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.03 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.96 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.03 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 1.00 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Disability (including neurodivergence and mental health), disabled people and disability or sickness benefits | 0.78 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.18 |
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.04 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:12 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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