Referring a Child or Young Person to 1:1 Therapy at PAC

Update – 22nd October 2024

Please be aware that due to us amending our referral criteria recently we have had an influx of new referrals. It can take 1 to 3 hours to discuss and process each referral and as such it is taking us some time to work through them all. Please be patient with us as we are a small team. We aim to acknowledge receipt of referral within 7 days however note that it will take us longer than that to let you know whether we will accept the referral onto our waiting list or not. Please also note further amends to referral criteria (see below) whereby we are no longer accepting GP referrals or school referrals (unless they have a Barnardo’s MHST Consultation).

If you are a school or other professional working with a child or young person please see our new Drumming Group Pilot for details to see if it could be a suitable alternative.

Making a referral

PAC is set up to work with young people in Cumbria age 7 – 19 (and up to 25 if a care leaver or young person with a learning disability).  We do face to face work in central Carlisle which involves attending a weekly session.  Please ensure that attendance is feasible for any young person you wish to refer, before referring them to us.

Note that being a small charity means that funding can determine to what extent we can work with young people.   As such, referral criteria may change in line with our current funding situation.  We appreciate this can be frustrating however we need to do this to prevent unreasonably long wait lists and wait times.

If you wish to refer to PAC, please complete our very quick Referral Eligibility Form here.  If you meet our current referral criteria you will be directed to our digital referral form.  If you do not meet the current referral criteria you can leave a few details and we will notify you should our funding and therefore referral criteria change. 

Current Referral Criteria (from June 2024 onwards):

• Age:  7-19 (and up to 25 if a care leaver or young person with a learning disability)
• Residence of young person:  In Carlisle or within a 30-minute travel radius of Central Carlisle (e.g. as far as Brampton, Penrith, Wigton)
• Referred by:  Professionals who have contact with the young person being referred only (e.g. social workers, Children’s Services, CAMHS, Barnardos, young person charity sector organisations etc)

Unfortunately, this means we are not currently accepting referrals:

• Made by parent/carers or the young person themselves.
• Schools (we hope to reopen these again in September 2024)
• GP’s
• For those that are resident over 30-minutes away from central Carlisle (for example Cockermouth, Workington, Maryport, Whitehaven etc).  
• For those currently receiving a 1:1 Therapeutic service from another provision

You are welcome to complete the eligibility form and leave a few details in order to receive notification should this change in future.

What happens after referral?

1. After you have submitted a referral we aim to acknowledge receipt within 7 days.  (Please be patient with us, we are a small team!).   
2. We will usually follow up with any further questions we may have before confirming acceptance onto our waiting list. 
3. We will then also contact the parent/carer and/or young person to make contact with them, tell them about PAC, manage expectation on next steps, ensure they have signposting to relevant resources/services to support them while on a waiting list and ask them a few practical questions. 
4. We will bring the young person in for an assessment closer to there being therapy spaces available.  Here we will get to know the young person and work with them to determine the best type of therapy for them based on what we have available at that time.

Please note:  We do not automatically accept all referrals.  If after we review all the information we feel that it would be beneficial for the young person to access another service then we will signpost on to the best of our knowledge.

Attendance at PAC is voluntary and therapy only works if the young person wants our help so we would advise that you discuss the referral with them first. We do our best to ensure appointments are made at a time that suits the needs of the young person, some after school appointments are available (though are obviously more limited).

Confidentiality

All young people are entitled to confidentiality within the confines of their session at PAC. Information will not be shared unless the young person has agreed to it. This is an essential part of therapy and means the young person can feel safe to share whatever they might need to without worrying what others will think or say.

All therapists adhere to a code of ethics for their profession which includes keeping a client’s session private.

The only exception to this is where a therapist may have concerns over the safety of a young person or concerns about someone else’s safety due to something that has been shared. At the beginning of therapy the therapist will explain that in an instance where they deem the young person, or someone else, to be at significant risk of harm, they would need to share this information with the appropriate person. This could be a parent or carer, school or appropriate outside agency. The young person will be informed of this and included in the discussion as much as possible.

All staff are strictly bound by PAC Safeguarding and Child Protection procedures.

Sessions

Session times at PAC typically last up to one hour depending on the age of the young person and type of therapy.  Sessions take place weekly. The length of time a young person will access therapy varies depending on each individual’s needs. It is usual for young people to attend for several months and young people with complex issues may need support for longer than this.