Anglicare North Queensland – Cairns

About Anglicare North Queensland

Programs

Youth Support Program (YSP)

YSP supports young people who are at risk of disconnecting from family, community, school, training and employment. This includes working with young people who are at risk of self-harming, homelessness and substance misuse. YSP aims to assist young people to improve their capacity to develop independent living skills as well as improving their overall health and wellbeing. Service includes:

• Personal support for growth: alcohol and drug counselling, case management, personal support etc.
• Chill Out Zones: professional staff providing a ‘safe zone’ where people can rest and recover, and are provided with access to information and referral advice.
• Outreach service: conducted 3 nights per week, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday throughout the Cairns community.

YSP is a voluntary service which provides a free and confidential service to young people aged between 8-21 years of age, who are at risk of:

• Disconnecting from their family/community or support networks
• Disengaging from school, training and/or employment
• Harm (including self-harm)
• Homelessness

YSP provides two types of services – Access and Case Management.

Access

Our Access Support is short term and provides moderate intensity support to young people and their families to meet a targeted need.

Key Components of Access Support include:

• Conducting initial immediate needs assessment to identify needs and the assistance a young person may require to help avoid escalation of the presenting issues.
• Conducting personalised risk assessments.
• Identifying the most appropriate assistance and support available in accordance with a young person’s level of need and circumstances.
• Providing young people and their families with information on available and relevant services and resources.
• Facilitating referrals and providing advocacy, where needed, to assist young people to access relevant mainstream and specialised services e.g drug and alcohol, education, mental health, Centrelink and homelessness services.
• Facilitating practical support until appropriate referral is completed.

Case Management

The role of Anglicare’s Case Management Services is to deliver effective, coordinated and integrated responses to young people with high level multiple and complex needs. This involves integrating case management responses for young people across several service providers.

Key components of Case Management Support include:

• Undertaking comprehensive needs and strengths assessments with young people including initial ongoing risk assessments and safety planning.
• Developing support plans with young people which aims to strengthen the support structures around them, including family supports and to further develop their own capabilities and increase their capacities.
• Providing practical assistance, advocacy and interpersonal support and safety planning as needed.
• Facilitating supported referrals to access specialist services including drug and alcohol, mental health, housing services, legal services, domestic and family violence support and general health services.
• Working collaboratively with other service providers to meet the needs of young people.
• Working with other agencies to improve local service delivery.

Anglicare’s Youth Support Model aims to deliver four key outcomes.
The key outcomes being that young people:

• Experience positive relationships with their family and community
• Are engaged in education, training and/or employment
• Lead healthy and violence free lives
• Have safe and stable places to live

Intake, assessment and referral

Open referrals – please contact the centre on 07 4080 5800 or complete the Youth Support Program Referral Form online here. 

Additional information

The Youth Support Program is provided within Anglicare North Qld – Cairns Homelessness Services Hub