In this issue

Mental Health Referrals

Focusing on our Mental Health space, the Police Referrals continue to explore the best way forward in order to keep Mental Health as a referral category for referring officers and are interested in speaking with those services that are commissioned to play a supporting role to vulnerable clients with Mental Health issues. Connecting clients to appropriate community services is the aim of the Police Referrals so please share this message within your networks to support this valuable referral pathway and those suffering Mental Health issues. Please share our details with any interested parties or alternatively send details to the Referral Coordination Service of potential services we could approach.

Mackay Mental Health Hub

1. The Mackay Mental Health Hub is an NQPHN initiative provided by selectability Ltd. The service has been operational since February 2020 and is currently supported by 2 staff members. Since commencement, The Mental Health Hub has grown significantly and now received referrals from all sources including self-referrals. Additionally, the service is now able to support individuals who have an NDIS package. The Mental Health Hub averages 170 hours of face-to-face support each month, with an additional average of 24 hours phone support each month.
2. We have, to date, received 28 Police Referrals. Of those 28 referrals, we were unable to make contact with 54%. Of the remaining 13 persons referred, 5 declined serviced due to prior engagement with another service who is meeting their needs or were on-referred to ensure their specific needs were met. The remaining 8 referred persons engaged and have completed an intake into our service. That is, of the people, we are able to contact over 60% complete an intake into our service to receive supports from the Mackay Mental Health Hub. When considering the average time that we work with persons referred by Police Referrals, this is difficult to gauge as most are still engaged with us at this time and the levels of engagement vary depending on the individual’s needs.

Successful outcomes – In one instance, The Mental Health Hub has been instrumental in providing support for an individual in a DFV relationship to exit that home and remain safe while working on supporting the individual’s mental wellbeing, physical and financial safety.

The success of the work we do at the Mackay Mental Health Hub is typically measured by the fact that participants keep returning to us. In addition to supporting an individual’s mental wellbeing, we also provide linkages to other community support groups, promote physical health and wellbeing through various groups and activities, and provide psychoeducation to enable a better understanding of what is happening for each individual. One of the most popular services on offer is the goal setting and structured action planning. This provides an opportunity for individuals to assume/resume some more capacity for control over their lives, remembering that the vast majority of persons who access this service are experiencing some level of crisis.

3. We believe that Police Referrals provides a valuable service, not only for individuals that are linked in with supports that they may not typically have the capacity to engage with on their own, but also for QPS officers. Having a simple and time-effective database and referral system ensures they are able to effectively meet a duty of care to community members and get some feedback on progress.

As with any referral, the more information we receive, the easier it is to direct our efforts for support. One of the most significant issues we have as providers is being able to contact the person being referred, thus, ensuring that phone numbers or email addresses are current is very helpful. Additionally, if you are referring an individual to multiple providers, this information is useful for us to know. One thing that we would also find useful is information about any services that the referred party is already engaged with, this ensures that we are not doubling up on the same services and enables us to direct our approach and provide a more collaborative and holistic service.

In terms of the value of Police Referrals for community members, we feel that it is absolutely essential for QPS as first responders to be able to provide linkages to support services in the community and have knowledge about local supports.

As we are all aware, Police Referrals differ slightly in the different districts and communities across the state. What we would like is to receive your feedback as Service Providers to ensure we understand what is happening at a local level. This might include feedback about the referral process itself, the content of information received or lack of, on-referrals, and/or gaps in service provision. What we might find is there are common themes across the state that we can then address and do our best to improve or it may highlight a particular issue for a particular district that we can address directly. A problem shared is a problem halved and continuous process improvement is the key! Email us at RMCS@redbourne.com.au

Whilst the majority of this year has been spent under the shadow of the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic, the year has continued to tick over so quickly, I cannot believe we are in October already.

A few important dates coming up in October one of those being October 10th World Homeless Day. Since its founding, World Homeless Day has been observed on every continent, except Antarctica. World Homeless Day was held for the first time on October 10th, 2010. 2020 sees World Homeless Day enter its 10th year of educating people about Homelessness, encouraging volunteering, showing those who volunteer appreciation for their continued work within the Homeless space.

Police Referrals currently have 80+ providers across the state providing support for Homeless related matters both at a local level or state-wide.

5th -11th October Mental Health Week is a national awareness event held in October every year. The aim is to raise awareness of the importance of mental health and wellbeing in the wider community, to increase community awareness and education about mental health issues, and to encourage participation in life-enhancing lifestyles. Chris has written about the topic of Mental Health before, COVID-19 has impacted all of us during the past 6 months, ensuring we take the time for a break to reset and refocus is very important.

Police Referrals currently have 140+ providers across the state providing support for Mental Health-related matters both at a local level or state-wide.

1st -31st October also includes Sexual Violence Awareness Month to raise community awareness about sexual violence, promote the support options available to people affected by sexual assault and sexual abuse and uphold a clear message that sexual violence will not be tolerated in our communities.

Police Referrals currently have 100+ providers across the state providing support for Sexually related matters both at a local level or state-wide.

For those of you who have primary school-age children, you’re welcome in advance for this reminder 17th -25th October is Book Week. So, put those thinking caps on and get those sewing machines out because we all know the kids love to dress up and show off their favourite book character or the book character you can manage during the night before dash like I have done on many occasions in the past.

We are always looking for de-identified Good News stories from our service providers to showcase Police Referrals both internally within QPS and externally as required. If you are able to provide de-identified Good News stories please email them to the QPS Police Referrals team at Police.Referrals@police.qld.gov.au.

Until next month, thank you for all your work in helping to build safe, caring, and connected communities, but most importantly, stay safe and well.

A/Project Coordinator Amanda Hagaman