By BRIDGET COOK
The News has teamed up with the City of Casey to highlight the seven key projects the council is hoping to secure funding commitments towards in the lead-up to the November State Election, as part of its Make Your Voice Count campaign. This week, the News takes a look at one of the projects – the need for more youth mental health services, particularly the development of the Casey Youth Hub.
THE City of Casey is pushing for a funding commitment towards the development of the Casey Youth Hub to ensure the city’s young people can access vital services under one roof.
In the lead-up to the November State Election, the council is seeking a commitment from the State Government and Opposition of $1 million to develop stage two of the project.
The council officially opened the Narre Warren Youth Information Centre in May 2014, which forms stage one of the wider Casey Youth Hub.
Funding for stage two would enable the hub to grow to house seven pillars of service delivery vital to the needs of Casey’s youth.
These include family support, drug and alcohol services, culturally and linguistically diverse services, crisis support, health services, vocational support and youth sector support and advocacy.
Make Your Voice Count spokesperson Wayne Smith said the centre would be for young residents to seek support in the form of counselling and youth programs to empower them to reach their full potential.
“Without this funding, local services will continue to struggle to meet the demand for support,” he said.
Cr Smith said the hub was desperately needed to help address the mental health issues locally.
“The City of Casey currently has approximately 65,000 young people between the ages of 10-25 in the municipality, with that number estimated to rise to over 70,000 by 2020, all requiring their own prioritised or local needs,” he said.
“The City of Casey has been experiencing significantly high rates of mental health issues among young people, and an associated high rate of suicide.
“Council is seeking funding from the State Government to increase service provision and support for young people in the region.”
Cr Smith said more funding for youth mental health services in the City of Casey would hopefully have a number of benefits.
“It would increase the number of young people getting timely, effective and professional support for their mental health issues,” he said.
“That would hopefully reduce the number of young people committing suicide and reduce the number of young people engaging in self-harm or becoming involved in near-miss incidents.”
The State Government and Opposition did not respond to questions about the Youth Hub and its potential impact on Casey before deadline.
Residents who would like to find out more and get involved in the Make Your Voice Count campaign are encouraged to visit www.makeyourvoicecount.com.au.
For 24 hour crisis support call Lifeline on 13 11 14, or visit www.lifeline.org.au/crisischat.
