One-stop shop for youth fails to get DHB cash

The Southland District Health Board has decided not to support the Southland Youth One Stop Shop, Number 10, which means the youth health service has one week to secure funding or it will close.

The health board's decision, released yesterday, was made in a public excluded meeting on Thursday where the board weighed up whether it could provide long-term funding to Number 10.

Board chairman Paul Menzies said the decision was made in a split vote but because of the health board's "dire financial position", and the indication it was likely to worsen, the request to co-fund Number 10 could not be supported.

Number 10 had asked the health board for a $200,000 cash injection to keep it afloat for at least another year.

Number 10 manager Jocelyn Johnstone said it would be the vulnerable youth of Invercargill who would lose out most if funding for the service could not be found within a week.

The decision to keep the service running had already been deferred for a month, but it could not be put off any longer and would be made at the service's board meeting on March 24, she said.

"It's a waiting game – this really comes down to whether the community wants Number 10 to stay open and whether someone can come up with the money," Mrs Johnstone said.

Number 10 would remain open until next month using $50,000 from the Invercargill Licensing Trust, she said.

The Southland District Health Board, Primary Health Organisation and the Community Trust of Southland have been funding the service since it opened.

Meanwhile, a group of youths rallied together at the centre yesterday to voice their concerns about the proposed closure of the free health service for 10 to 24-year-olds.

Former service user Mitchell Young, 18, said Number 10 gave young people a place to talk about their issues in confidence, outside of their family and school where the support was often limited.

"It's a place where they can come and open up to other people and get support," he said.

Peer support worker and office junior Sharna Walker said Number 10 had about 2300 registered members in Southland and received about 20 new registrations every day, excluding those who used the service but did not register.

"It would be a shame if we shut down, because so many people rely on the service," she said.

BIG NUMBERS

Number 10 opened in 2008 with the help of community funding. It received initial set-up grants in 2007 totalling about $800,000 but needs $500,000 annually to keep offering core services and be sustainable after 2013 – with an additional $200,000 a year needed if it were to expand to offer youth a mental health intervention servicewAmong the initial funders, the Southland District Health Board gave a lump sum of $48,000. Other funders include the Invercargill Licensing Trust, the Health Ministry, the Invercargill Primary Health Organisation and Venture Southland. The biggest funder has been the Community Trust of Southland, which pledged $459,000 in capital and operating funds to be granted over five years. Three of those five years have been allocated – this year's funding has been pushed forward.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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