Workforce Guidance: Introduction

Workforce Guidance: Introduction

Introduction

This site offers guidance for staff working with children and young people in North Yorkshire under the age of 18 (under 25 for those with disabilities or for care leavers) who self-harm or feel suicidal. It is not aimed at people who work within the mental health sector; instead it is targeted at people who work with children/young people in a wide range of settings such as schools, youth work or community groups. Everyone
can play a part in helping children and young people at risk.

This website sets out key principles and ways of working but does not prescribe how to act in individual situations. It is not intended to override individual organisational or professional guidelines where they exist. It can however be used as a prompt for discussions about organisational approaches to working with self-harm
and suicidal intent, or to highlight individuals’ skills or training needs.

“People look at you weird, like you tried to kill yourself when you didn’t, they look at you in disgust, I just
want to cope”