Children and Adolescent Crisis Service

Over the past few years, increasing numbers of young people in Seychelles are facing crisis situations such as unwanted pregnancy, school failure, drug addiction, and relationship problems. When these arise, the young person is often at a loss and does not know who to turn to.

To address this problem, the NCC has joined forces with the Psychiatric Unit, Ministry of Health to pilot a Child and Adolescent Crisis Service.

This service targets children and young people who are experiencing an acute psychological crisis and who need immediate support and advice from a qualified professional in order to maintain their safety.

Crisis in this context can be defined as any problem (social, personal, or family) which can lead the young person to a sense of distress, sense of conflict, not being in control, helplessness, which in turn can put the person in a vulnerable and risky situation.

The primary aim of the service is to offer crisis intervention at the point when the individual feels most vulnerable and at risk. The individual will be able to rapidly access a qualified professional via telephone for advice and support 7 days a week between 8am and 10pm.

The crisis workers’ intervention will focus on the immediate causes of the crisis and how these can be resolved. They will explore with the individual any previous and new coping strategies, which can be employed to manage and reduce the immediate risks, in order to ensure the individual remains as safe as possible.

If deemed necessary, an urgent appointment will be offered the following day to carry out a psychological assessment based on need and risk along with a full risk assessment in order to accurately plan ongoing or longer-term care/support. Close liaison with other agencies, professionals, and carers will be developed if further referrals are needed to ensure that the agreed plan of support is as effective as possible.

This service will be piloted as of July 2nd until the end of September of this year and closely monitored during the three month period.

Thanks go to Cable & Wireless Foundation for making the crisis line possible. Cable & Wireless, staunch partners in this project, have generously offered the crisis phones and package to NCC.

Remember, if you are a young person, you are feeling depressed, sad, feel everything is going against you, DO NOT DESPAIR. Help is at hand. Call the Crisis Service on Tel.: 52 77 17 or 52 77 11 between 8:00am and 10:00pm every day of the week.

NCC – It should not hurt to be a child. We all have the right to feel safe all the time.