Children & Families Clinical Service
The Children & Families Clinical Service is a specialist mental health and wellbeing support team linked with the City & Hackney Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) Alliance. It works with:
- Children, young people and families already receiving support from Children’s Social Care, Young Hackney, the Family Support Service, or the Youth Justice Service
- Those experiencing emotional, behavioural or mental health difficulties alongside wider family or social challenges (cityandhackneycamhs.org.uk)
The service offers clinical consultation, specialist assessments, and brief therapeutic interventions tailored to the family’s needs (cityandhackneycamhs.org.uk).
Note: The service focuses on joint working with social care professionals and time‑limited therapeutic support rather than long‑term weekly therapy (chscp.org.uk).
Links with council services in Hackney
- Support for families and early help services – multi-agency support, family support units, and safeguarding
- Children and families service overview – access to social care, safeguarding, children’s rights, and youth provision:
- Mental health support information – including local CAMHS info and guidance:
Feedback & complaints
Both pages explain how to raise concerns, make formal complaints, or access advocacy support.
Recent local developments
In June 2025, Hackney Council opened a new Care Leavers Hub, which includes clinical support space for children, families, and care-experienced young people to access services like the Children & Families Clinical Service (news.hackney.gov.uk).
Eligibility
Inclusion
This service supports children and young people who are:
- Receiving statutory support from Children’s Social Care
- Engaged with Young Hackney, the family support service, or youth justice
- Identified as needing mental health support alongside their existing interventions
Exclusion
Referrals cannot generally be made directly by families and must come through relevant professionals such as social workers, youth workers, or family support practitioners
How to refer
Who can refer: GP, Nurse, Other
Professionals can also contact the Single Point of Access for consultation before making a referral by calling Monday to Friday from 9:30am to 3:00pm.
CAMHS referral form
Any professional who knows the child, young person and family can make a referral using the City and Hackney Single Point of Access Referral Form. Once completed, email the referral form to huh-tr.camhs-spa@nhs.net. Consent from parents or carers must be given before making a referral to CAMHS, unless under specific circumstances (e.g. young person with Gallick competence).
Document referral
Send by: patient