6 October 2011

Pact Youth South (PYS) in Invercargill is now ready to take referrals from a wide range of sources.

In the past PYS took referrals only from the Child, Adolescent and Family Service (CAFS), but with the revised service specifications and a clinical team on board (made up of youth service manager Christine Simpson (social worker) and clinician Sarah Scott (occupational therapist)) the service is now able to take referrals from the likes of youth drug and alcohol service Adventure Development Southland, paediatricians from the local hospital, GPs, schools and other agencies. “With any referrals from those areas, Sarah and I will complete a full assessment,” Christine says. “People will not necessarily be accepted – we will look closely at each referral and will develop treatment plans for those who are eligible as per our contract specifications.”

Christine is particularly excited about collaboration with Adventure Development Southland. “By collaborating with them we are able help support young people through detox.” Christine says it is a worthwhile partnership. “Studies show that a high number of people with mental illness can also have drug and alcohol issues, and vice versa. They naturally go together.” PYS can also work with Adventure Development Southland to help transition young people heading away to a service and again once they return home to Invercargill.

“So that is a safer and more gentle way of helping them into a service and then transitioning them back into the community.”

PYS can now also offer counselling. Christine is an ACC-approved counsellor – before returning to Pact this year she had been providing sexual abuse counselling in Christchurch for three years. “So we’re letting the likes of Rape Crisis know that.” Christine has also been going to any suicide forums and meetings in Southland to let people know Pact Youth South is available to help. “We can be the fence at the top of the cliff instead of the ambulance at the bottom. When there are young people who are showing signs of being unwell, instead of waiting for a suicide attempt –give them some respite, give them some time with us.”

PYS is a good place for observations of young people and monitoring behaviours, Christine says. She is also interested in providing such observation for maternal mental health.

“Say a child is born and people can’t work out what is going on with a mother and child, we’re in a situation where we can do 24-hour observations and report back on what we are seeing to case managers. It wouldn’t be something we would do too often and you wouldn’t want more than one at a time but it could be done. It would have to work with the client mix we had at the time time of course, or be arranged so that the different groups aren’t in the house at the same time.”

Christine says PYS has been letting people know the service is available and how people can make referrals.

“A lot of people didn’t know the service was here. We’re practically full at the moment so it’s already starting to snowball.”

If the PYS clinicians believe someone referred directly to PYS is very unwell, then they will refer them on to CAFS. Also, if someone referred by someone other than CAFS becomes unwell while they are a PYS client, PYS can make an appointment for them to see a psychiatrist who will assess the client and decide whether that person goes to CAFS or stays with PYS.

Any clients who are case managed by PYS clinicians will have their GPs involved in their care.

“We will keep reasonably close contact with GPs under those circumstances. Whereas with CAFS, they are the case managers.” Christine says.