Consent and Responsibility
It might seem strange to referrers, youngsters and their families/carers that a young person might need to be sent out from Simmons House at a time when they are most angry or upset. The reason Simmons House does this is complicated.
Almost all the young people at Simmons House attend because a part of them wants to. They might not always say this but with very rare exceptions no adolescent is forced to be at the Unit. We work almost entirely with the consent and agreement of young people and their families/carers.
For many young people with emotional problems, the only way for them to address their difficulties or illness is with their agreement. To do this safely we have to have the rules and sanctions that are detailed here. If we didn’t, the Unit would be unsafe and unhelpful.
If a young person does have to be sent out, the staff think very carefully about the reasons why and discuss these with the adolescent and his/her family/carers. We always assess the level of risk before we send someone out of the Unit and in addition, as an added safeguard, one of the consultant psychiatrists has to give his/her consent to a young person being sent out.
