Family Mental Health Support Service

Who can the Family Mental Health Support Service assist?

Family Mental Health Support Services (FMHSS) supports children and young people who are showing signs of or are at risk of developing a mental illness and their families and caregivers to provide early intervention with the goal of improving mental health outcomes. This is a dedicated service for families in the Frankston & Mornington Peninsula local government areas.

What does Family Mental Health Support Service do?

We provide early intervention individual support for children, young people and their families when there are early signs of mental illness. The service aims to increase the awareness of the children and young people, and their families in the development of healthy coping strategies, communication skills and resilience in the effort to prevent ongoing mental health concerns. It facilitates service coordination and access to other services for the individual.

Group work is offered to both the children and young people, and parents and caregivers to help develop healthier coping strategies and behaviours, alongside emotional awareness and effective communication skills.  Individual case management directly to the young person is a key component of the service.

Where required Better Place Support Coordinators will also support young people and their families to access specialist services that may be helpful. This could include referrals for family violence, drug and alcohol issues, mental health services or specialist teams for crisis or sexual assault services.

What won’t we do?

Our practitioners won’t:

• Be judgemental
• Get emotionally involved

Who can access the service?

To be eligible for this service you must be:

• A child or young person showing signs of, or are at risk of developing a mental illness
• A family member or caregiver of a child or young person actively engaged with the FMHSS team
• Be located in the Frankston & Mornington Peninsula local government areas.

FMHSS is a whole of family approach and is not able to work with a child or young person without the involvement of their families or carers.

A formal diagnosis of mental illness is not required to access FMHSS.

Who can refer?

Referrals are usually made by external agencies and schools within the Frankston & Mornington Peninsula local government areas. You can self-refer however you must be from the local area to access the service.

How much does it cost?

Family Mental Health Support Services (FMHSS) is a free service for eligible families with children located in the Frankston & Mornington Peninsula local government areas.

Availability

This service is available across the Frankston and Peninsula region.