Grant opportunity: Child and Youth Mental Health - Youth Enhanced Services Funding (YES)

Mental health is a major health concern for young people globally. Seventy-five percent of mental concerns have their onset before the age of 25 and experiencing mental ill-health during this phase of life can then have a substantial impact on a young person’s development and capacity to participate and contribute economically and socially. If young people experiencing the early stages of mental ill-health are connected to appropriate, accessible and effective supports via mental health services, programs and clinical treatment, they stand a far greater chance of recovering from a mental illness.

The Australian Government outlined a package of commitments in its Policy Strengthening Mental Health in Australia, targeting youth mental health with a particular emphasis on severe mental illness to address this issue.

Since 2016, Primary Health Networks (PHNs) have been funded to develop regional service models for young people presenting with severe and complex mental health issues, known as Youth Enhanced Services (YES). Orygen has been funded to provide expert advice and guidance to PHNs to support this work.

In September 2021, all Youth Enhanced Services were reviewed in our region. The main findings concluded that:

• Youth Enhanced Services were unable to meet the demand for youth in our region due to lack of staff and lack of funding youth wanted to engage in outreach and place-based service instead of telehealth or other online modes
• psychological therapies and case management needed to be better integrated into same service delivery to support complex presentations
• many service providers wished to have a stronger relationship with their regions Hospital and Health Service (HHS) to support youth who were unsafe in the primary care setting.

In consideration of the above findings, the Darling Downs and West Moreton PHN made the decision to take a proactive approach to recommission the Youth Enhanced Services to further enhance and improve the health outcomes for youth aged 12 to 25 in the Darling Downs region.

Assessment

Please address all the following mandatory requirements:

• That your organisation is financially solvent and able to provide the services. Submit evidence in the form of an Audited Financial Statement and a business continuity plan.
• Insurance, including; minimum public liability of $20 million per occurrence and professional indemnity of $10 million per single event or event causing Loss. To be added to TenderLink - Section 2.4 – Insurance Coverage – 2.4.1 Public Liability Insurance/2.4.2 Professional Indemnity Insurance.
• Evidence of business accreditation and/or registration (copy of certificates to be attached).
• Services must be accredited, comply, or demonstrate alignment with the requirements of the National Standards for Mental Health Services (NSMHS) 2010 including implementation Guidelines for Private Office Based Mental Health Services and all other relevant standards and legislative/regulatory requirements (to be attached).
• Specialist staff training, qualifications and experience (AHPRA Registrations, AASW Accreditations(certificates to be attached).
• Current Workers Compensation Insurance. (To be added to TenderLink - Section 2.4 – Insurance Coverage – 2.4.3 Workers’ Compensation Insurance).

Tender amount

Total Funding up to $2,400,000.00 excluding GST

This funding has considered CPI for the duration of the funding period.

Access the full tender briefing document via our Tenderlink portal

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