April 10th, 2022Mental health support for young people

Premier Daniel Andrews and Minister for Mental Health James Merlino have opened the newest Youth Prevention and Recovery Care (YPARC) service in Parkville, delivered with a $12.9 million Labor Government investment.
Providing care for around 200 extra young Victorians every year, the new 20-bed facility isthe state’s fourth YPARC, delivering a step-up, step-down model of residential care to young Victorians in Melbourne’s north-western suburbs and the inner city.
As a key recommendation from the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System, YPARCs provide flexible, around-the clock clinical care for young people aged 16-25 – reducing pressure on hospital beds by providing early intervention care to prevent admission, or a step down after hospital treatment before going home.
The facility has been designed with a welcoming and home-like environment with private bedrooms complete with ensuites. Communal kitchen, dining and living areas, breakout spaces and a garden are designed to encourage recovery, support family visits and encourage young people to continue things like socialising and education.
The new YPARC service is located alongside Orygen, the National Centre for Excellence in Youth Mental Health, and is also close to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, ensuring young people have easy access to other support services – and are close to transport links for visiting friends and family.
The government has also opened a Victorian-first Hospital Outreach Post-suicidal Engagement (HOPE)
dedicated to children and young people. Operating from Orygen’s Parkville facility, it provides outreach support to people who have attempted suicide or presented to an emergency department once they leave hospital.
The Parkville service is the first of four youth-specific HOPE outreach programs the Labor Government will open across the state in the coming months – delivering a 12-week program of clinical and social support tailored to each young person, supporting them to recover and return to as much of their normal life as possible.
The government is also building a further five YPARC services in Greater Ballarat, Greater Geelong, Greater Shepparton, Heidelberg and Traralgon and refurbishing the three existing YPARC facilities in Bendigo, Dandenong and Frankston.