Embrace Co-Director Professor Helen Milroy AM has labelled the WA government's $46.6 million in additional funding for infant, child and adolescent (ICA) mental health crisis care, announced today, as a "significant step" for young people in WA.
The new funding addresses one of the key recommendations of the Ministerial Taskforce into Public Mental Health Services for ICA aged 0-18 in Western Australia (ICA Taskforce), of which Professor Milroy was a member.
"Our children and young people's mental health is a priority and seeing the development of services that can assist them when needed is critical," Professor Milroy said.
Acute Care and Response Teams (ACRTs) will be established across Perth and the Great Southern, providing mobile outreach and crisis support services for children under the age of 18. They provide a rapid response and support to children and adolescents experiencing a mental health crisis, and their families and carers.
The Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS)'s Crisis Connect service will also be extended with the additional funding, to support young people and their families to remain at home as they away an appointment with the CAMHS team.
Finally, the WA Country Health Service Brief Crisis Intervention Service will be extended through to 2025-26 as part of the investment, offering 24/7 specialist ICA mental health advice for regional health professionals.
The acute response teams are an important part of the system in providing timely care, closer to home. This will be a significant step forward in providing comprehensive mental health care for young people in WA.
"I would like to commend the Cook government and Minister Sanderson for supporting the ICA Taskforce and following through for funding for services," Professor Milroy said.
In a statement, Mental Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson said supporting young people's mental health was a "priority" for the state government.
"All Australian states and territories have reported a significant increase in the number of children presenting to an emergency department with a mental health-related condition, but in WA we are expanding support services to keep kids out of hospital."
"We want to help children and adolescents in the communities where they live and provide early interventions to reduce the likelihood of them becoming lifelong users of the mental health system," she said.
Improving accessibility to mental health services is one of the three key priorities for Embrace @ The Kids Research Institute Australia research. The other key priorities are to investigate the complex relationship between ICA mental health and other factors, and to support the mental health and wellbeing of Aboriginal children and young people.
Professor Milroy's recent research into improving cultural safety for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander consumers of mental health services was among the most downloaded from online journal Wiley for its first year of publication.
Professor Helen Milroy AM has praised the WA government's additional funding for infant, child and adolescent mental health.