The new Youth Enhanced Service in Gippsland will provide holistic support for young people experiencing severe or complex mental health challenges to address a gap in existing services.
Gippsland Primary Health Network will commission Relationships Australia Victoria (RAV) to deliver the Youth Enhanced Service, in partnership with other agencies and health professionals, based on a national model developed by Orygen.
The Gippsland model is being developed with input from young people, their families and wider community.
Gippsland PHN Chief Executive Officer, Amanda Proposch, said the model would target young people aged between 12 and 25 years who had complex mental health needs.
“This service will fill the gap between low intensity care and acute care in the hospital system,” Ms Proposch said. “It is sometimes referred to as the ‘missing middle’, considered too complex to be met by the primary mental health care system and not acute enough for the tertiary mental health system.”
