No young Victorian experiencing mental health concerns should fall through the cracks, and the state government hopes to make sure of that with a huge investment in targeted mental health outreach to provide the personalised care children and young adults need.
Eastern Victoria MP Harriet Shing recently announced that Eastern Health and Monash Health will each share in $16.3 million to expand the Mobile Targeted Assertive Outreach mental health teams statewide, supporting more than 560 extra young Victorians every year.
These vital outreach teams provide specialised support to Victorians aged 12 to 25 who are particularly vulnerable or at risk of disengaging with the system, reaching out to provide intensive one-on-one care in a setting young people feel comfortable with, and are likely to continue to engage in.
The teams work to identify and treat mental illness in young people, support and educate their families, minimise interruption to their educational and social lives, and support them to manage their ongoing health and recovery.
Ms Shing said that this funding would go a long way in the years to come and help improve the mental health system throughout the south east.
“This is a profound investment in young Victorians with complex needs living to the east of Melbourne – with outreach support to make sure nobody falls through the cracks of our mental health system, no matter what their life circumstances are,” she said.
The Minister for Mental Health, James Merlino, echoed Ms Shing’s sentiments and said that it was important that each and every Victorian sought help if they were struggling.
“I want every young Victorian who is struggling with their mental health to know that support is available – we’re delivering extra services right across the state, tailored to young people, so nobody needs to suffer in silence,” he said.
The extra support will enable the Infant, Child and Youth Area Mental Health and Wellbeing Services at Eastern Health and Monash Health to reach hundreds more young Victorians in crisis each year – ensuring that young people across Melbourne’s outer eastern suburbs can be supported with the specialised care they need, in their own communities.
The mobile teams are staffed by a variety of workers including psychiatric nurses, doctors, family and occupational therapists, psychologists and social workers – and importantly include youth peer workers with lived experience of the mental health system, who can connect to at-risk young people more effectively than traditional clinicians.
This outreach investment builds on a record $300 million delivered in the Victorian Budget 2021/22 to boost the capacity of all Infant, Child and Youth Area Mental Health and Wellbeing Services across Victoria over four years, providing support to more than 2,300 extra young Victorians aged 0 to 25 and their families every single year.
To build a new mental health and wellbeing system from the ground up that meets the needs of all Victorians, this year’s budget invested a record $3.8 billion in mental health and wellbeing services and support.
This unprecedented investment recognises how critical the early years are in promoting good mental health for life, with $842 million for children and young people so they are supported as soon as they need mental health care.
