young-people-families
young-people-families

Infants, children, young people and families

Overview

Increasingly, governments, policy makers and researchers recognise the importance of getting a good start in life – and focus on early intervention, and supporting and improving the wellbeing of infants, children, young people and their families. Chapter nine of Planning for Wellbeing is focused on infants, children, young people and their families.

Facts and figures

In 2018, an estimated 5,129 children and young people in Brisbane North are expected to experience severe mental illness and to require treatment for this.

An estimated 30,007 children and young people in Brisbane North are expected to experience moderate or mild mental illness in 2018.

80% of children and young people experiencing moderate mental illness and 50% experiencing mild mental illness will require treatment.

In 2016/17, 1 in 13 students aged between 12 and 17 who participated in the Young Minds Matter survey reported seriously considering suicide, with a third of those attempting suicide.

The 2010 Australian National Infant Feeding Survey showed that 20% of mothers of children aged 24 months or less had been diagnosed with depression, with more than half of these mothers reporting being diagnosed during the perinatal period.

Key documents

Youth mental health services in Brisbane North

Planning for Wellbeing - Year one implementation report

Objectives and actions

9.1.1

Develop a common language and understanding of key system concepts across the child and youth mental health sector

Planned completion

Ongoing

Status

On track

9.1.2

Identify service and workforce gaps and develop responses to address these

Planned completion

Ongoing

Status

On track

9.1.3

Use combined resources more flexibly and collaboratively to assist in bridging the gap between services, in particular between state and federally funded services

Planned completion

Ongoing

Status

On track

9.1.4

Actively advocate for stakeholders to work collaboratively to meet needs of the cohort described as the ‘missing middle’

Planned completion

Ongoing

Status

On track

9.2.1

Develop a shared common language of crisis and suicide risk across the child and youth sector

Planned completion

Ongoing

Status

On track

9.2.2

Support and build the capacity of community-based organisations to respond to suicide risk

Planned completion

Ongoing

Status

On track

9.2.3

Improve GP assessment and response to children and young people at risk of suicide

Planned completion

Ongoing

Status

On track

9.2.4

Improve children, young people and families’ experience when in crisis

Planned completion

Ongoing

Status

On track

9.3.1

Improve the capacity of the service system to engage and build relationships with children, young people and families

Planned completion

2020/21

Status

On track

Updated

9.3.2

Support the development of enduring relationships between mental health services and with other relevant sectors

Planned completion

2020/21

Status

On track

Updated

9.4.1

Improve mental health services and supports for priority groups of infants, children and young people at higher risk of mental health issues

Planned completion

Ongoing

Status

On track

9.4.2

Create better Lived/Living Experience engagement strategies at the service and systems level

Planned completion

Ongoing

Status

On track

9.4.3

Implement service models that better respond to families with complex health needs, including better integration of adult and infant/child services

Planned completion

Ongoing

Status

On track

9.5.1

Trial and evaluate innovative service delivery modalities that increase equitable access for children, young people and families, including telehealth and outreach

Planned completion

Ongoing

Status

On track

9.5.2

Improve transitions for children and young people between children’s and adults services

Planned completion

2021/22

Status

On track

Updated

9.5.3

Improve Consumer and service provider navigation of services and between service systems

Planned completion

Ongoing

Status

On track

9.5.4

Implement integrated and coordinated service delivery models that place children, young people and their Carers at the centre of their care

Planned completion

Ongoing

Status

On track

9.5.5

Support GPs' central role in the child and young person's care

Planned completion

Ongoing

Status

On track

9.6.1

Advocate for specialised acute mental health treatment programs that promote the attachment between mother and baby (ie Mother Baby Unit) and have consumer co-design input

Planned completion

Ongoing

Status

On track

Updated

9.6.2

Support evidence-informed antenatal education programs across Brisbane North

Planned completion

2021/22

Status

On track

9.6.3

Work with consumers, service providers, and other stakeholders to identify current perinatal and infant mental health system needs and future responses

Planned completion

Ongoing

Status

On track

9.6.4

Identify opportunities to advocate for updated and innovative ways to support screening, assessment and pathways to evidence based care of perinatal and infant mental health

Planned completion

Ongoing

Status

On track

9.6.5

Identify workforce development initiatives (including Lived Experience workforce), to promote best practice approaches to perinatal and infant mental health

Planned completion

2021/22

Status

On track

Updated

9.7.1

Equip initial touchpoints witih the increased ability to identify, connect and respond to children and young people with mental health difficulties

Planned completion

Ongoing

Status

On track

9.7.2

Implement strategies that increase protective factors against mental ill-health for children and young people

Planned completion

2021/22

Status

On track

Updated

9.7.3

Support and implement services that identify vulnerable children and intervene early

Planned completion

2021/22

Status

On track

Updated

Governance

The Infant, Child and Youth Mental Health Partnership Group was originally established to support development of the Infant, Child and Youth section of Planning for Wellbeing.  Since the launch of Planning for Wellbing, the Group’s focus has shifted to the provision of guidance and oversight.  The Group is comprised of stakeholders and community members with a vested interest in improving outcomes for infants, children and young people in the Brisbane North community.  The Infant, Child and Youth Mental Health Partnership Group has direct oversight over implementation of Chapter Nine – Infants, Children, Young People and Families within Planning for Wellbeing.

Membership

Amy Lee Mayes

Executive Manager

Redcliffe Area Youth Space

Annabel Wild

Resource & Content Writer

Act for Kids

Ash Simpson

Regional Manager - Youth Integrated Services

STRIDE

Belinda Blaik

Manager - Clinical services

Pregnancy counselling link

Brigitte Lewis

Caseworker

Caboolture Youth Justice Centre

Callie Hooper

Child and Family Practitioner

The Benevolent Society

Catherine Rawlinson

Service Development Leader

Queensland Centre for Perinatal and Infant Mental Health

Catherine White

Community Services Manager – Youth and Family

Lutheran Services

Chloe Robinson

Service Manager, STRIDE Kids

STRIDE

Chris Pickard

General Manager

Open Doors Youth Service

Dianne O'Malley

Director

Young Minds

Erin Boath

Coordinator, Dual Diagnosis Program

Brisbane Youth Service Inc

Glenda Jones-Terare

Chief Executive Officer

Kurbingui Youth Development Association Inc

Genevieve Fleming

Team Leader

Peach Tree Perinatal Wellness Inc

Gretel Gardner

Senior Program Manager

Mercy Community

Hayley Blackburn

Senior Program Manager

Mercy Community

Jamie Thompson

Centre Manager

headspace - Taringa

Jess Nicol

Community Programs Coordinator

yourtown

John Edwards

Family Support Services Manager (SE QLD)

yourtown

Kathryn Kenny

Business Manager

Redcliffe Area Youth Space

Kathy Faulkner

Manager, Priority Communities

Brisbane North PHN

Lauren Johnson

Family Support Services Manager

yourtown

Leshay Chong

Regional Social Health Manager

Institute for Urban Indigenous Health - Caboolture (IUIH)

Mahalia King

Lived Experience Representative

Meenakshi Sundaram Shanmugam

Child Psychiatrist

Child and Youth Mental Health Service (CYMHS)

Michelle Costello

Program Development Officer

Brisbane North PHN

Natasha Malmstrom

Lived Experience Representative (Carer)

Rebecca Lloyd-Jones

Acting Manager

QLD Government - Department of Youth Justice

Sam Kilby

Clinical Lead

Open Minds / headspace

Shane Rebgetz

Team Leader

Caboolture Child and Youth Mental Health Service

Simone Bursey

Health Services Senior Manager

Brisbane Youth Service Inc

Thy Meddick

Principal Policy Officer, Child and Youth Team

QLD Government - Department of Health (Mental Health Branch)

Tim Byrne

Program Manager

Youturn / headspace Caboolture

Tom McIntyre

National Education Director

Act for Kids

Vani Naiker

Senior Guidance Officer

QLD Government - Department of Education, Training and Employment

Veronica Curtin

Clinical Services Manager

STRIDE


Regional Youth Advisory Group

Membership

Hannah Walker

Lived Experience Representative

Jasmin Murphy

Lived Experience Representative

Jesse Cotter

Lived Experience Representative

Jeyden Young

Lived Experience Representative

Kai Boswell

Lived Experience Representative

Kathy Faulkner

Manager, Priority Communities

Brisbane North PHN

Mahalia King

Lived Experience Representative

Michelle Costello

Program Development Officer

Brisbane North PHN

Achievements

Planning for Wellbeing acknowledges a healthy early childhood is fundamentally linked to wellbeing and positive long-term health outcomes – and this is reflected in the shared objectives, with a strong focus on perinatal, infant and school-based activities.

As co-sponsors of the Regional Plan however, the PHN and HHS acknowledge that the original consultation to develop these objectives and associated actions lacked the breadth of stakeholders necessary to comprehensively develop objectives spanning infants, children, young people and families.  To address this, the PHN, guided by the Infant, Child and Youth Mental Health Partnership Group, has undertaken further consultation over the past 12 months, and has revised the objectives and associated actions.  For the purpose of this Implementation Report, progress toward the original four objectives is included – however the revised material will be included in the Refreshed Regional Plan – due for release by October 2020.

A summary of the key achievements against the four original shared objectives, as published in Planning for Wellbeing, is included below.

Summary of Achievements (2018-2020)

The PHN HealthPathways team have worked collaboratively with key stakeholders to develop three new Perinatal Pathways focused on the emotional health and wellbeing of mothers pre-pregnancy, during pregnancy and post-pregnancy.  Stakeholders included Metro North Perinatal Mental Health Service, the Queensland Centre for Perinatal and Infant Mental Health, Peach Tree Perinatal wellness and the White Cloud Foundation.  Alongside the perinatal pathways, a HealthPathway for Infant Mental Health has also been developed – ensuring pathways to care are available for very young children, and their families, who require mental health support.  The new Pathways provide health practitioners with clear step-by-step guidance for referring parents, infants and young children to specialised services.

2018 also saw expansion of the State-based perinatal mental health service, resulting in greater reach across the region.

To support achievement of this objective, the PHN and HHS committed to a broader and deeper consultation and co-design process to develop key insights which would determine future areas of work.  This process was completed in early 2019, and has informed the revised objectives and actions for this Chapter of the Regional Plan.

Informed by the co-design process, the PHN has procured a specialised psychological therapy service tailored to children and young people, with more flexible funding arrangements to allow for more holistic and connected support.  This revised Brisbane MIND service began 1 July 2019.

To date, work to achieve this objective has focused on two key activities:

  • Additional funding has been provided to all four headspace[1] centres in the region to support the expansion of services to better support young people with more complex needs, as well as providing outreach support to Bribie Island and Kilcoy regions. The four headspace sites have provided support to more than 7,500 young people.
  • asha [2] – a service based in the Moreton Bay North sub-region which combines a clinical model with an existing drop-in youth service, has continued to support young people with high needs, complex problems and suicidal ideation. Early feedback from an external evaluation suggests that asha is filling a recognised need in the region.

[1] https://headspace.org.au/
[2] mental health services for children and young people – www.brisbanenorthphn.org.au

Work to achieve this objective has included the promotion of beyond blue’s Be You [1] resources as appropriate.  Be You promotes mental health and wellbeing, from the early years to 18, and offers educators and learning communities evidence-based online professional learning, complemented by a range of tools and resources to turn learning into action.

Work has also begun to explore opportunities for external providers to in-reach into schools – offering much needed specialist support by local providers.  This work will continue into 2019/2020.

[1] https://beyou.edu.au/

Success stories

Expansion of headspace

Objective 9.3: Improve outcomes for vulnerable young people Action 9.3.2: Enhance delivery of existing youth services…

Get involved

If you would like to know more about Planning for Wellbeing, or if you’re interested in getting involved, please drop us a line – we’d love to hear from you.