Children ‘forced to offend’ before getting mental health support, report warns

The study, based on interviews and focus groups with more than 100 professionals, parents, carers and young people, paints a stark picture of a system that too often waits until harm has occurred before stepping in. Practitioners described a pattern of late intervention, with some children only receiving assessments or diagnoses after entering the youth justice system.

One professional recalled a boy who waited several years for help before his situation escalated: “It probably took about three or four years until the point that he stabbed somebody and ended up in custody… I almost feel like we didn’t even give him that opportunity.”

NHS data underscores the scale of the problem. Since 2016/17, referrals to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) have more than doubled, yet fewer than half of children referred last year received any treatment.

Practitioners said that mental health services often respond only once a young person is in crisis. One youth justice professional described how offending can paradoxically unlock access to support: “There’ll be kids that might have been sitting on waiting lists for assessment for sometimes over a year or two years, and they commit an offence, come into contact with the youth justice service, and suddenly, a couple of weeks later, get an assessment.”

Young people echoed this experience. One said it was easier to get support “if you’re a troubled kid,” adding that their better-behaved sister was left without help despite asking for it.

While some local areas have introduced faster referral pathways — embedding mental health workers in youth justice teams or linking directly with CAMHS — most practitioners said access remained inconsistent and unfair. “It’s a source of frustration for pretty much everyone involved in youth justice that it takes something bad happening for them to get that kind of accelerated service,” one London-based professional said. “If that had happened earlier, they may never have committed an offence.”

Professionals also raised concerns that children’s needs are often misunderstood or mislabelled, particularly when neurodiversity or trauma are factors. Conditions such as autism and ADHD can be mistaken for behavioural problems, leading to children being punished rather than supported. “Neurodiversity and trauma often present in a very similar way,” one NHS practitioner explained. “It’s often assumed that it’s the trauma presentation we’re seeing, rather than something else.”

Bias was also found to play a significant role. Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic children, especially Black boys, were frequently perceived as threatening rather than vulnerable, leading to what one professional described as “adultification” within the justice system. “Often the identification of the need is overlooked because we see them as adults and not vulnerable children,” said a practitioner in the West Midlands.

Even when children meet thresholds for support, services can still fail to respond. Many mental health teams are structured around more straightforward cases, such as anxiety or self-harm, leaving young people with multiple or complex needs without help. This leads to what professionals called a “hot potato effect” — where cases are passed repeatedly between services without anyone taking responsibility.

The report highlights the importance of flexible, relationship-based support that reflects the realities of young people’s lives. Practitioners and parents said trust must be built gradually, often outside clinical settings, and that services should be tolerant of missed appointments and willing to work long-term. “You’ve almost got to get past that stage where they’re testing how far they can push it,” one practitioner said, “and still be there to support.”

Dr Abigail Bentley, author of the report, said the findings revealed a mental health system that too often fails those most in need. “This research makes clear that young people at risk of serious violence face huge barriers when trying to access mental health support,” she said. “Too often, support arrives after a crisis, or not at all. Parents, caregivers, practitioners and young people described a system that excludes those with the most complex needs — labelling them as ‘too risky’ or ‘too difficult’. Real, system-level change is needed to build services that are flexible, relational and inclusive.”

Jon Yates, CEO of the YEF, said the findings should be a wake-up call for policymakers. “Too often, children vulnerable to violence only get help once a crisis has already hit,” he said. “Youth justice and mental health professionals are doing their best under huge pressure — but the system is letting them, and the children they serve, down. We need fresh solutions: putting mental health experts in schools and Pupil Referral Units, making it easier for children to get therapy, and ensuring they have trusted adults to turn to before things spiral out of control.”