A NEW $5.2 million program will provide stronger support for an estimated 450 people with serious mental illness in the northern region.
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A consortium led by Richmond PRA has been selected to deliver the Partners in Recovery (PIR) program, a federal government initiative that aims to improve the co-ordination and collaboration of service providers.
Under the program, Richmond PRA and its partners will work together to co-ordinate individualised care for people with such severe and persistent mental illnesses as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and depression.
Richmond PRA chief executive officer Pam Rutledge said the program would take a proactive approach, with support facilitators to be employed to work with clients on their recovery plans and ensure their needs are being met.
Family and friends of people with a mental illness will also be involved in the process.
Ms Rutledge said it could be difficult for people with a severe mental illness to navigate the complex mental health system as it stood and services were loosely connected, making it easy for people to fall through the cracks.
The PIR program would provide more holistic support, she said, with the consortium bringing a wide range of expertise and skills, as well as access to health and social services.
Those who have not received support, have had a bad experience or have not received the help they need are among those expected to benefit in particular.
Ms Rutledge told a meeting of consortium representatives yesterday the program was not only about linking services and people, but trying to reform the system so it worked better into the future.
New England MP Tony Windsor commended the flexible and needs-based approach of the program, comparing it to the Gonski model of education funding.
“Not everyone with a mental illness has the same issues,” Mr Windsor said.
“It’s not just one blanket, one problem; it’s not the way the world works.”
Richmond PRA has partnered with Anglicare, Billabong Clubhouse, The Benevolent Society, Challenge Community Service, North West Regional Community Care, EACH Social and Community Health and Yaraandoo, with New England Medicare Local another key agency involved.
The program will begin working with clients in September and will run until July 2016, with an extra 12 people to be employed across the consortium.
The announcement brings the funding Richmond PRA has received in the past two months to deliver services locally to more than $13 million.
Last month the organisation was awarded a contract for Housing and Accommodation Support Initiative Plus, a program to provide secure housing and intensive support those with severe mental illness.