A new mental health service, announced on Tuesday by New England MP Barnaby Joyce, may not be run by Centacare and headspace.
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In a media release on Tuesday, Mr Joyce said the program would be run at Tamworth headspace.
The new individual placement and support program will be funded by the federal taxpayer as part of a $45.7 million nationwide scheme, he said.
But applications for the competitive tender process have yet to even close, according to a local mental health executive.
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The region's Centacare Executive Manager Josefina Hofman said any successful applicant "may not be notified until approximately February 2021".
Both Centacare's media unit and Mr Joyce have been contacted for comment on this story.
A spokesperson for the Department of Social Services said Centacare has been invited to apply for a non-competitive grant which closes on 27 January 2021.
"No other local service providers were invited to apply to deliver the program," the spokesperson said.
The service is designed to help get mentally ill young people into the workforce.
Tamworth is one of four sites - including Wagga Wagga, Dubbo and Grafton - that were announced as funded in the program's new round.
All told some 6000 young people under the age of 25 will get help under the new program over the next four years, nationwide.
Mr Joyce said on Tuesday that the program would help tear down barriers preventing people with a mental illness from joining the workforce.
"The program is a tailored approach that can help improve job outcomes for young people with mental illness," he said.
"This is fantastic news for the local community because we know career assistance, hand-in-hand with clinical support, can make a profound difference in the lives of young people and ensure they can reach their full potential."
The individual placement and support program concept was developed in the United States.
Young mentally ill work with employment specialists trained to help them develop the skills for work, like writing resumes.
But the young person is meant to drive the process, deciding how much and what kind of work to apply for, and whether to tell prospective employers about their mental illness.