appropriate services4

Children and young people have particularand different mental health needs from adults.Services therefore need to focus on how bestthe differing needs of children and youngpeople can be met and have a strongdevelopmental focus. The physical and socialenvironment must be comfortable, welcomingand appropriate to the age of those using theservices.

including familiesThe family is the child or young person'sphysical and emotional home and is the long-term 'recovery unit', not the service. Thereforethe family needs to be intensively involved inthe help the service is providing.

linking with other sectorsand services5

The specialist child and youth service needs toinclude in its plan to help the young person allthe other people involved in the child's wellbeing,for example: teacher(s), doctor, social welfarepersonnel, police, so that that comprehensiveinformation can be obtained and there can beas much consistency as possible in people'sapproach to helping the child and their family.

working within the family'scultureThe family's culture may be different from thatof the people who work in the service. Whenthis happens, service staff need to listen particularlycarefully to the family and seek support to helpthe person and their family from people, groupsor services that the family identifies with.

maori6 children and young people

Ideally, Maori will have access to kaupapa Maoriservices if they wish. Other services will haveMaori clinical and support staff who can workdirectly with the young person and their family.When this is not the case, the service must findthe cultural support it needs from outside theservice.

pacific7 children and young people

As with Maori, Pacific people should have accessto eith a Pacific service, or if they are being helpedby a general service, that service must providesupport both it and the family needs, either byhaving Pacific staff or through finding thatsupport outside the service.

checklist

Mental Health Commission PO Box 12479 Thorndon Wellington • Phone (04) 474 8900, Fax (04) 474 8901, Email info@mhc.govt.nz

blueprint checklist for mental health services in new zealand

CHILD AND YOUTH SPECIALIST MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES

what is theinformationsheet about?

this sheet provides

information and a

checklist for

mental health

service providers

for children and

young people to

assess their

delivery of services

against the

requirements of

the blueprint for

mental health

services in new

zealand: how things

need to be1

what is recovery?Recovery is happening when people can live well in the presence or absence of their

mental illness.2 It is different for everyone. Recovery is not the same as cure. Recovery

is having more to life than illness. The health professional’s3 role is to provide an

environment where a person can better manage their illness and its affects.

Blueprint Information Series: 2Child and Youth SpecialistMental Health Services

MARCH 2001

Blueprint

1 Blueprint for Mental Health Services in New Zealand: How thingsneed to be. Wellington, Mental Health Commission, 1998.

2 Blueprint. pp. 42-453 Recovery Competencies for New Zealand Mental Health Workers.

Mental Health Commission, Wellington March 2001. In particular,

see competencies 1.1, 3.1, 104 Blueprint. p. 425 Blueprint. p. 446 Blueprint. pp. 55-677 Blueprint. pp. 68-72

• How do service users know that the service is clearly dedicated to children and young people?

• How have you made the service's environment appropriate for children and young people?

• How could staffs' skills improve to enable them to work effectively with children and youth?8

• How does the service acknowledge the effects that discrimination against mental illness has on children and young peopleand their families and work to address this both within and outside the service?

• How can you improve the ways families are involved in the service their child or young person is receiving?

• How can you demonstrate family representation at the policy and service development level?

• How does the service actively liaise with people from other health and social services that the child/young person and theirfamilies are involved with?

• What process do you have for giving one person or agency responsibility for coordinating the care of the child/youngperson?

• How does each family's culture influence the service provided to it?

• How does the service provide for Maori clinical and support needs?

• How does the service provide for Pacific clinical and support needs?

• How do you make the service accessible, that is, widely known, easy to find, easy to use?

CHILD AND YOUTH SPECIALIST MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES

Answering these questions by describing how your service meets the needs of children, young people and their

families may be useful for identifying areas of development.

8 Four Videos: Clinical Assessment of Children and Adolescents with Mental Health Problems.Mental Health Commission, January 2001.

• How does the service provide an age-appropriate developmental focus?

• Does the service have two age groups: 0-14 years, 15-20 years and how is the young person's own developmental age takeninto account?

• Does your service have the staff with the skills to treat drug and alcohol abuse and dependence?

• How does the service identify and manage young people at risk of suicide?

• How does the service identify and offer intervention to young people, early in the course of serious illness?

does the child and youth service have the following required components:• the ability to respond appropriately in a crisis?

• packages of acute care, including inpatients services, with appropriately trained staff?

• support for young people in homes run by foster or residential providers?

• daytime support for young people and their families in their homes?

• community teams to assist with all service components?

• early intervention services?

• specialist mental health liaison services to primary healthcare and other sectors to support early intervention and suicideprevention?

blueprint checklist for mental health services in new zealand

blueprint checklist for mental health services in new zealand

There is an acknowledged shortage of people trained with the specialist skills required to work with children and youngpeople with mental health problems. Therefore services often have difficulty meeting all the requirements for a good service.It is important that all existing services have a specific workforce development programme for recruitment, retention andtraining for people to work in this specialised area.

how do you ensure that the community has good access to these services?The Workforce

how do you know your service is/is not meeting the demands of the populationyou serve?• How are the people working in your service encouraged to practice a recovery approach?

• How are the people working in your service encouraged to continue developing their careers in child and youth mental health?

• What processes do you have to recruit people to work in your service?

child and youth specialist mental health services

resource guidelines

2.1 Acute inpatient – child and youth –beds or ‘care packages’ 24.0 75.5 2.0 1.1 0.0

2.2 Secure inpatient – child and youth –beds or ‘care packages’ 0.0 15.1 0.4 0.2 0.2

2.3 Community mental health teams –child, youth and their families – FTEs 300.2 1,080.0 28.6 15.6 13.0

2.4 Respite services – child and youth –care packages 0.0 30.2 0.8 0.4 0.4

2.5 Day programmes – child and youth –care packages 0.0 151.1 4.0 2.2 1.8

2.6 Community residential services –child and youth – beds or ‘care packages’ 0.0 75.5 2.0 1.1 0.9

Total Beds or ‘Care Packages’ 24.0 196.3 5.2 2.8 2.4

Total FTEs 300.2 1,080.2 28.6 15.6 13.0

Total Day Programme 0.0 151.1 4.0 2.2 1.8

Currentresources:Total NZ

Resourceguideline:Total NZ

Resourceguideline per

1000,000 totalpopulation

0–14 years 15–19 yearsServices for children, youth and their families