Authors: Debbie Childs, Julie McChesney
Year: 2017
Event: 2017 TheMHS Conference
Subject: Change, Innovation, Reform
Type of resource: Conference Presentations and Papers
Abstract: About HelpingMinds and Key Partnerships.
For more than 40 years HelpingMinds has supported the whole family through their recovery journey. HelpingMinds constantly seeks to improve carers access to support and to better engage with mental health carers through different models of service delivery.
We will discuss 2 partnerships which address the need for early recognition, intervention and support of mental health carers, to ensure improvements in longer term outcomes for carers and families. We will report on these interventions and engagement strategies.
Partnership 1 – Outcare and the Start Court (Mental Health Diversion court)
HelpingMinds works with Outcare to support carers of people in the criminal justice system who have co-occuring mental health issues.
Outcare specialises in working with people prior to and after their release from prison as well as those at risk of becoming embedded in the criminal justice system.
The Start Court is Western Australia’s mental health diversion court. HelpingMinds works with the Start Court team to ensure that mental health carers are referred for support.
*HelpingMinds counsellors and peer workers to support prison visitors who are Mental health carers
*Outcare provides HelpingMinds Carer Packs to prison visitors who are Mental health carer
*HelpingMinds helped Outcare establish an effective recruitment process for their carer peer and provided a Carer Peer mentor
*Outcare and Start Court refer mental health carers to HelpingMinds for education, support groups, peer support, respite and counselling.
The Police Co-Response team is being trialled in 2 regions of Perth. It responds when there is a callout which involves a mental health episode or someone threatening self-harm and includes police who self-nominate (and receive specific training) and a clinician.
HelpingMinds is working with this team:
*Provide Care Packs which the police are educated to leave when they identify a mental health carer. Police are recording when on the packs are issued.
*Care Packs include information about the Start Court, the Drug Diversion Court, carers rights under the Mental Health Act, contact details for HelpingMinds.
*HelpingMinds is recording all contacts that are initiated from the Co-response team.
Learning Objectives
Learning Objective 1: Lessons from HelpingMinds' work with the Mental Health Diversion Court - the Start Court - and Outcare to support carers of people in the criminal justice system who have co-occurring mental health issues.
Learning Objective 2: Outcomes and issues managed in working with the Police Co-Response team in 2 regions of Perth when callouts involve mental health or someone threatening self-harm.
References
We are monitoring and will report on outcomes for families as a result of these collaborations
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