Serena Kirby, Denmark Bulletin
An increase in children experiencing mental health crises and presenting at the region’s emergency departments has led to a new crisis response service.
Run by the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service, the acute care response team will be based in Albany but will cover Denmark and the Great Southern.
The initiative is a response to recommendations from a ministerial task force that looked at what reforms were needed to improve WA’s mental health systems available for children up to age 18.
The Great Southern will be the first region outside the metropolitan area to gain funding for the program and $7.1 million has been allocated to set up and run the service for the first three and a half years.
The service will then be evaluated with further funding dependent on the results of its effectiveness.
The service will be rolled out in stages with the first stage set to be operational by January 2025.
CAMHS project manager Belinda Brett said parents of children experiencing a mental health crisis at home and needing urgent assistance currently only had the option of taking their child to an emergency department.
“With such great distances in this region we’re looking at how we can best deliver a crisis response service to help keep children and families healthy in the home,” she said.
“That first step might be that you make a phone call and the clinician on the end of the line does an assessment or helps to de-escalate the situation and there will potentially be a mobile component where we send someone out to the house.
“The service will help children and young people, their families and carers in times of crisis and when they need more intensive support.”
The service’s multidisciplinary response team is likely to include mental health nurses, social workers, psychologists and mental health workers, as well as peer support workers with lived experience.
To help design a service that meets the needs of the community the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service will hold consultation sessions with the community and people who will potentially be using this service.
“This is a chance to have your say on what the service might look like and what is unique to this region in terms of youth mental health,” Belinda added.
For anyone who missed attending the recent community discussion in Denmark, an additional session will be held on Tuesday, October 1 at Albany’s Retravision Stadium function centre.
Anyone wanting more information or to RSVP to the Albany session can contact Belinda Brett at WA Country Health via email belinda.brett@health.wa.gov.au
This article appeared in the Denmark Bulletin, 26 September 2024.
