24/06/2026
730,000 young people a year.
That's the estimated number falling through the gap between school mental health teams and CAMHS - not quite severe enough for specialist services, but too complex for early-intervention support. And experts told MPs this last week that figure may actually be conservative.
They're called the "missing middle." And if you work in SEND or SEMH, you know exactly who we're talking about.
We see it at Phoenix Bay. Young people who've already been assessed, re-assessed, placed on waiting lists - and told, repeatedly, that they don't quite meet the threshold. The gap isn't theoretical, it has real consequences for real students.
This week's evidence to the joint health and education committee put it plainly: schools are being left in an "insidious position" - expected to support young people whose needs go beyond what we're trained or resourced for.
Because we care, of course we do. But caring isn't the same as being equipped.
And there's a specific concern worth flagging: under the government's proposed SEND reforms, mental health may no longer factor into the new "areas of development."
The children's commissioner said this week she's "slightly worried" about this. So are we.
We're not going to solve systemic gaps from one school site in Devon. But we can name them, keep advocating, and build the kind of environment where no young person has to reach crisis point before they get support.
What are others in SEND and SEMH settings seeing on the ground?
