Authors: Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital Integrated Mental Health Service The Sidney Myer Fund The Victorian Women’s Benevolent Trust The Grosvenor Foundation
Year: 2009
Event: 2009 TheMHS Awards
Subject:
Type of resource: TheMHS Awards
Award state: VIC
Award level: Winner
Award category: Infant, Child and Adolescent Services or Programs
Abstract: The Peek a Boo Club is a ground breaking early intervention program for infants (up to 36 months) and mothers who have been affected by family violence. It was developed by the Addressing Family Violence Programs (AFVP) within Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital Integrated Mental Health Service (RCH IMHS). Commencing in 2005 it has collaborated with multiple community based organisations to deliver this exciting initiative. Utilizing an ‘infant led’ mental health approach within the context of the infant/parent relationship, this intervention, as well as training to introduce workers to this specialist area of work, is provided across Metropolitan Melbourne. A recent off shoot of this initiative was BUBs on Board (Building up Bonds), a program specifically tailored to infants and mothers accessing women’s shelters and emergency housing. Involving five women’s shelters within Tasmania this variation of the Peek a Boo Club model was successfully trialled and evaluated in 2008. The Peek a Boo Club continues to grow and generate great interest in the area of infant mental health Description of Facility/Organisation: The RCH IMHS caters for infants, children, young people (0-15 years) and their families residing in Melbourne’s Western and North Western Metropolitan Region. The AFVP is a small team of five part time clinicians and one administration officer within this service. Four of these clinical positions are funded by philanthropy (The Sidney Myer Fund and Victorian Women’s Trust) and revenue raised by the AFVP’s training and publications. The Peek a Boo Club operates on a budget of approximately $200 000 per year. The Peek a Boo Club has successfully run 16 groups for 108 clients (52 mothers and 56 infants) thus far. The BuBs on Board initiative involved 43 mothers and infants that were current clients of five women’s shelters in Tasmania. This initiative was funded collaboratively by the RCH IMHS, the Sidney Myer Fund and the Allanah and Madeline Foundation.
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