Penumbra Youth Project Fife
Country
Scotland
Description
Penumbra youth project supports young people aged 12-21 experiencing mental health difficulties through early/crisis intervention, advice, support and skills development.
The project offers a holistic approach to supporting the mental health and well being of young people, and offers recovery focused one to one support, drop-ins, issues based groups, creative activity groups, life-skills, outdoor activities and Action Therapy.
The project supports young people throughout Fife, through a programme of outreach support, to residential houses, homeless accommodation units, psychiatric hospitals and wards, voluntary mental health agencies, schools.
Aims
The project aims to:
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provide early/crisis intervention and alternative support to young people aged 12-21 in the community through the establishment of services that are community based and voluntary sector led, but which link with mainstream services.
- provide mental health and well being services that support young people in transition, who may be experiencing complex difficulties.
- provide advice and support on a range of issues including mental illness, stress, isolation, suicidal and self-harming feelings and actions, family breakdown, homelessness, anxiety, abuse.
- improve resilience and coping skills amongst vulnerable young people to enable them to maintain mental well being, prevent further mental illness and achieve successful independent living.
- continue to work closely with other services to improve referral routes between service providers, in addition to offering open access to young people who wish to self refer.
- reduce referral to specialist services be encouraging young people to develop the skills and confidence to deal with the difficulties they experience in their lives, thereby reducing stigma and easing the pressure on other services.
- continue to work with young people to identify problems they are experiencing first hand, their views on services and what they feel would better meet their needs.
- support young people's mental health and well being indirectly through continued awareness raising and promotion of mental health, and through offering informal support/advice to carers and professionals.
Areas
Health, Social services
Effectiveness
The project takes a holistic approach to support the needs of young people with mental health problems, providing a range of activities, in response to needs identified by the young people.
The project works to identify coping strategies and other supports, including friends and family, and develop the young person own resourcefulness, by working in a way that is recovery focused.
An aim of the project is to improve referral routes and access for young people, which we do by regular promotion of the work of the project in radio, newspapers, website, quarterly newsletter, annual review, bi-annual open days. Yong people can refer themselves by personal contact, telephone, email, letter, or be referred with their consent by another individual.
The project also provides outreach support to young people who have difficulty accessing the service, for mental health, financial or transport reasons.
Sustainability
The project is funded through the Scottish Executive Changing Children�s Services fund, and contributes to the Children's Services Plan 2005-2008 overall strategy, aims and targets.
The work of the project is also influenced by The Mental Health of Children and Young People: a Framework for Promotion, Prevention and Care, and the National Strategy for Mental Health.
From an economic viewpoint, implementation is warranted through our aim of supporting young people in identifying and developing resourcefulness, resilience and coping strategies, thereby reducing their need to access specialist services.
Innovation
The project seeks to deliver a service that is recovery focused. Recovery in mental health is happening across the world. In Scotland, the Scottish Executive is promoting services that are recovery focused. The Scottish Recovery Network has been set up, and Penumbra is very closely involved in their work.
Recovery does not necessarily mean living without medication or support, or being symptom free, but brings about a decrease in focus on mental illness. It is about working out ways of coping, self-help, taking responsibility and having hope.
The project also gives every young person the opportunity to develop their own WRAP (Wellness Recovery Action Plan). WRAP is a tool developed by Mary Ellen Copeland in Arizona, and is a self-composed plan for the daily, weekly and monthly maintenance of mental health and well being, a plan for identifying and coping with triggers, and plans for managing illness and crisis.
The youth project works with young people who are vulnerable and hard to reach because of their mental health problems, housing situation, and/or chaotic lifestyle. In the year 2005/2006, the Project had 1,793 contacts with young people
Added Value
All services and activities provided by the project are provided free of charge to young people. In addition to those mentioned above, young people can access a daily drop-in where they can have a free, healthy meal and a drink. Young people accessing the project also have their transport costs refunded. Because the project covers a very large area, young people have to travel by public transport, and potentially would not be able to afford to access support if their transport costs were not refunded.
The project makes a significant contribution to raising awareness of mental health problems and how to promote mental health. Reducing stigma in this area has an impact on young people who have previously felt excluded or marginalised because of their mental health difficulties.
Transferability
The practice and related materials are transferable to other countries and communities, and are flexible and adaptable to local conditions.
Project workers adhere to a model of support and intervention, and work under a framework that is robust enough to direct and develop work consistent with Penumbra's vision and mission, but flexible enough to support the individual needs of the young people and the particular experience and skills and experience of the worker.
The practice contains guidelines for replication.
Mainstreaming Potential
The practice is relevant to local and national policy as outlined above. Through our funding stream we are linked to local/national strategy on developing services for children and young people, as well as being represented at a local and national level on mental health, anti-stigma, participation, recovery strategy groups.
Costs of the Project
198,000 per year
People involved in the Project (number of people and profession)
Project Co-ordinator
Project Administrator
Development Worker
Project Worker
Project Worker
Support Worker
Strengths and Weaknesses of the Project
Strengths:
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The project is well supported and well represented all over Fife. Excellent contacts have been made with colleagues in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, Social Work, Education, and the Voluntary Sector.
- The project has established a reputation of innovation and good practice.- The project has central management support from Penumbra, and supported through the network of Penumbra Projects and through the area network of East/Central Scotland.
- The project is well supported through the Fife voluntary sector network CVS Fife, which is active in working to raise the profile of voluntary sector Projects, ad ensure representation at all levels of planning in Fife.
- The team is made up of people with a very broad range of skills and experience in mental health and youth work.
- The project is very well supported by the young people who use our services, who often recommend the project to their friends, and, as self referrers, account for almost half of all referrals.
Weaknesses:
Probably the only, but a major weakness of the Project is that it is funded on a yearly basis, with no guarantee that funding will continue past each financial year.
The impacts on the service at all levels, from a feeling of security for staff, to difficulties in planning strategically. Workers operate and plan on the basis that the project will continue to be funded, without the security of the knowledge that it will.
Contact Person for the Project
Amber Higgins, Project Co-ordinator