Lost opportunities for young people with ASC under early intervention: A service evaluation from a central London Forensic CAMHS service

Sri, A., Smith, J.G., Sandiford, M., Moran, D., Ross-Michaelides, B., Benn, C., Curtis, E. and Hales, H. 2025. Lost opportunities for young people with ASC under early intervention: A service evaluation from a central London Forensic CAMHS service. Research in Autism 124 , 202580. 10.1016/j.reia.2025.202580

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Abstract

Background: Little is known about the needs and risk behaviours of children and young people (CYP) with Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC) referred to Community Forensic Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (C-FCAMHS). Methods: A retrospective service evaluation considering all CYP (n = 444) referred to a C-FCAMHS in London from mid-2018 to December 2022. We considered demographic and family background data, comorbid diagnoses, service involvement and reasons for North West London Community Forensic Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (NWLFCAMHS) referral and NWLFCAMHS input and risk assessment of CYP with and without ASC. Results: At referral, close to one-quarter (22.8 %; male n = 88, 25.7 %; females n = 8, 18.9 %) of referred CYP had a diagnosis of ASC; a third of these had a co-occurring neurodevelopmental disorder. A further 25 CYP were awaiting ASC assessment, of which six CYP individuals were subsequently given an ASC diagnosis. Of the CYP with ASC, close to four-fifths were open to CAMHS (78.1 %) and social care (79.2 %) on referral. Over two-fifths (42.5 %) of CYP with ASC were referred due to violent behaviours and 59.2 % were considered at moderate risk to others. Conclusion: There are higher prevalence rates of ASC in referrals to our C-FCAMHS than in the general adolescent population, with disproportionally higher rates in girls and those from racialised backgrounds. Missed opportunities for support to reduce development of risk behaviours were noted, including insufficient individual support plans in education, social care and CAMHS. There is much need to support early identification of ASC across all demographically diverse groups to enable early support from services and prevent escalation to high-risk behaviours.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Medicine
Additional Information:	License information from Publisher: LICENSE 1: URL: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/, Start Date: 2025-03-28
Publisher:	Elsevier
ISSN:	3050-6565
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	15 April 2025
Date of Acceptance:	25 March 2025
Last Modified:	15 Apr 2025 10:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/177698

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