The power of 10

By AMY MILNE - The Southland Times

It's not surprising Southland youth have adopted Number 10 as their own.

The central Invercargill complex with its brightly painted waiting room, big comfy couches and friendly young people ready to listen to your problems make for an inviting and un-threatening environment at Number 10 – Southland's Youth One Stop Shop.

The staff are passionate about what the organisation does and have exciting plans to expand services after less than two years in operation.

However, there's a barrier. The lack of money.

Number 10 can afford to stay open until about April but needs sustainable funding to keep it going for the next financial year.

That cash injection needs to be at least $200,000, just to keep running its health and counselling service without any expansions in service delivery.

Located in the old RSA clubrooms, Number 10 shares the building with Invercargill Secondary Schools Network (ISSN) and Adventure Development Ltd – youth alcohol drug service.

The services, while all independent, work together to get the best help for young people who want or need help.

Number 10 manager Jocelyn Johnstone says the amount of funding it needs is minimal compared to what some other funded health services receive.

She's also frustrated when she sees money not being well spent in some of those other youth health services.

She doubts, for example, that many teenagers use the sexual and mental health services at Southland Hospital, adding that those types of services should not even be based there.

"It's not appropriate. This is meant to be primary health care – you don't provide primary health care at a hospital," Mrs Johnstone says.

"You provide it in the centre of town. And youth have to feel safe and comfortable to go there."

Many of the youth health services in Southland are fragmented. If some of that money was put into Number 10, the potential to grow and provide a better all-round service for youth could be unlimited, she says.

Since opening in 2008, demand for services at Number 10 has exceeded expectations, with more than 1800 people aged between 10 and 25 years registered.

In the first six months of last year, more than 2500 youth passed through its doors to see the doctor or nurse. Almost half were related to sexual and mental health issues – with a total of 1481 visits (42 per cent) for sexual health and about 87 (10 per cent) for mental health, drug and relationship problems.

Number 10 nurse Sue Wilson says patients come for all sorts of reasons.

"A lot of them don't have GPs or are Southern Institute of Technology students," she says.

Students made up about 10 per cent of clients, but the polytechnic did not give it any funding.

Ms Wilson says demand is also compounded because of the GP shortage in Southland and few doctors are enrolling new patients.

It is also a cost thing. Most students and other teenagers with no income or benefit cannot afford to go to the doctor.

They come to Number 10 because it is free and friendly.

Jazmyne Joass, 15, says she is enrolled with a GP practice in town but prefers going to Number 10 because it is specifically designed for youth.

"They're really nice people."

Jazmyne reckons she will be "pretty gutted" if Number 10 is forced to shut.

Todd Molloy, 18, agrees and thinks it will be very bad for youth. "That's a bit of a shame really," Todd says. "Invercargill's needed something like this for a while."

He and his friends like Number 10 because staff are non-judgmental. The location also makes it a lot easier for Todd to get to than his family doctor in Ohai.

"It's more convenient. And it's free as well. A lot of teenagers don't have money to go to the doctor.

"It's also a cool place. You go in there and sit down and you are always made to feel welcomed. No one judges."

Todd says he would be prepared pay up to $25 to Number 10 if a charge was introduced to keep it open.

Invercargill mother Shelley Pollard says Number 10 provides "an awesome" service.

"Invercargill really needs it," she says.

"My kids love it. The people there are really nice.

"If it shuts there will be more teen pregnancies and problems amongst kids."

Ms Pollard thinks it should charge $5 if it is short of funding.

"Most people can afford five bucks," she says.

Police also support the organisation.

Police youth services officer Sergeant Phil Berryman says Number 10 serves a positive purpose. "We believe it's a necessary part of the community."

While police would not refer teenagers directly to the health services at Number 10, they did refer to Adventure Development and ISSN and supported all three agencies being under one roof, he says.

Mrs Johnstone says there are a lot of youth who need help and it is specially seeing more demand for mental health services, for which it has very little funding.

If Number 10 had the funding, this would be addressed, she says.

But it's impossible to think about these issues when there is so much uncertainty around whether the service will be able to stay open after April.

The funding problem is not a simple one.

Number 10 was set up with the help of community funding.

It received initial setup grants in 2007 totalling about $800,000 and said it 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 service.

Among 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.

But 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.

Community trust chief executive John Prendergast says that when the grant was approved in 2007, former Southland District Health Board planning and funding manager Chris Fraser assured him the board would continue to fund the centre.

"While he could not give any guarantees, he was confident it would be about $400,000 a year."

Mr Fraser, who has become an independent consultant, says it would not be appropriate for him to talk publicly on the issue because he was no longer a board employee.

At the board's November meeting, during a presentation to secure long term funding, Southland Youth One Stop Shop Trust manager Murray Witheford also said the community trust only released its funds based on assurances the board would provide sustainable funding.

At that meeting, board deputy chairwoman Susie Johnstone said she was unsure where the trust had anticipated this ongoing funding would come from.

Otago Southland District Health Board chief executive officer Brian Rousseau also said the health board "at no time gave assurances of any long-term funding".

With a $7 million deficit over its head and pressure from the Health Minister to break even within three years, the board's planning and funding arm has told Number 10 it has no extra money to spare unless it cuts it from someone else.

Any reshuffling of funds should be to serve its first priority of removing the deficit, Mr Rousseau said.

This prompted board members to request a list of what other youth services it was funding because it acknowledged Number 10 was playing a vital role.

Mr Chrisp tabled this list at the December meeting but board members then requested more information on how many youth were accessing the services listed.

This information is scheduled to be presented at the first meeting for 2010 in February.

Mrs Johnstone thinks it will show many services are not being used by youth nearly as much as Number 10, which compounds the thought of closure seem even more ludicrous, she says.

It's a service that works and should keep working.

"In the ideal world we'd like to get three years (of funding committed to us)."

However, Mrs Johnstone is not prepared to beg the board.

"The time that I've put in seeking the funding ... I probably could have fund-raised the money."

She would rather be spending time helping youth than lobby for funding. "What we're about is working with youth. I'd like to get sustainable funding so I can actually get on with the planning to put youth services in place."

Her last resort is getting the community to lobby the Health Minister.

"What we're saying is can you help as a community?" amy.milne@stl.co.nz