What was CYP IAPT?

The Children and Young People’s Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme (CYP IAPT) was a service transformation programme that aims to improve existing Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). Funded by NHS England and Health Education England.

The CYP IAPT programme is a whole service transformation model that seeks to improve the quality of children and young people’s mental health services.  As such, it is different from the adult IAPT model, which is focused on setting up new services.

The principles behind CYP-IAPT underpin the development and delivery of the ‘Local Transformation Plans' and run throughout ‘Future in Mind'. The CYP IAPT programme includes core principles as part of its service transformation:

• Value and facilitate authentic participation of young people, parents, carers and communities at all levels of the service

• Provide evidence-based practice and are flexible and adaptive to changes in evidence

• Are committed to raising awareness of mental health issues in children and young people, and are active in decreasing stigma around mental ill-health

• Demonstrate that they are accountable by adopting the rigorous monitoring of the clinical outcomes of the service, and

• Actively work to improve access and engagement with services

These principles are co-dependent and are applied within a culture of collaboration and shared decision-making. For more information on each principle, visit the resource library.