BERRI

Supporting the mental health needs of young people across the UK

Two million children in the UK have significant issues with their mental health or emotional wellbeing, yet with limited tools available, few are able to access professional support.

BERRI is a digital toolset that can identify, track and support the psychological needs of children, providing individualised reports to advise their carers. It assesses needs across behaviour, emotional wellbeing, relationships, risk and indicators of underlying conditions for children and young people.

The tool can then compare thousands of scores and produce individualised support plans. This is a significant step forward compared to paper measures which take time to score and interpret.

BERRI founder, Dr Miriam Silver, explains why winning the Innovate UK Inclusive Innovation Award is so important:

“This Award will enable us to use our tools to support children and families known to social care services, reducing the number of children that need to be separated from their parents and taken into care.”

The team hopes to see BERRI across children’s social care services, reducing both the number of children coming into care and placement breakdowns. They also want to develop self-assessment and personal development tools for young adults, and help carers supporting people with specific psychological needs.