Thank you for your interest in the Safeguards service. This page will let you know more about this service as it is developed, and how you can share your input to help it be a service which meets the needs of young people and their families in Murrumbidgee.

As the Safeguards service is now open in Murrumbidgee Local Health District, we are not currently collecting input on it's development. Thank you to all those who so generously participated to share their experiences and ideas for this service.

If you, or someone you know feels they need the support of the Safeguards service, or another of our Mental Health, Drug and Alcohol services, please contact AccessLine on 1800 800 944.

In June 2021, the NSW Government announced new funding for mental health as part of the 2021-2022 State Budget.

This included the funding of 25 ‘Safeguards’ – Child and Adolescent Mental Health Response Teams across NSW.

Safeguards Teams are a new dedicated Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) designed to provide care to young people aged 0-17 years who are experiencing acute mental health distress.

The Teams are community based and will provide rapid, mobile, intensive and flexible short-term support to help during a mental health crisis. They will provide extended hours mental health services and partner with relevant health services to ensure 24/7 support to young people and families while in crisis.

The Teams will respond to young people in their schools, homes and communities and in hospital-based settings (Emergency Departments, hospital wards), through face to face, phone and telehealth appointments.

Murrumbidgee Local Health District have been funded to provide one Safeguards Team for our communities and is now working on building this new service.

Many elements of the Safeguards Teams service have been designed by NSW Health to best respond to the needs of children and young people in crisis, and their families.

We know that the Safeguards Teams will:

• Be delivered by Murrumbidgee Local Health District as part of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS),
• Provide care for people aged 0 - 17,
• Work collaboratively with young people and their families/carers,
• Provide a rapid response to children and young people experiencing mental health crisis,
• Be available 7 days per week, over extended hours,
• Deliver short-term specialist assessment, care coordination, clinical care and therapeutic interventions,
• Provide care face-to-face, by video link and over the phone,
• Be recovery-oriented, strengths-based, culturally safe and trauma informed.

It's important to us that we hear from young people and their parents/carers about how this service could work best in our communities and what your needs for crisis care are.

During the first part of 2022, we ran community consultations, held one-on-one interviews and conducted forums with people with lived experience, parents/carers and other groups involved in the care of young people (like schools).

All of these valuable perspectives have helped to create the draft Model of Care for the service which will guide how the service runs.

In 2023, we invited interested people in our community to review the Model of Care and provide feedback.

The Safeguards service is now operational in Murrumbidgee Local Health District. We will share relevant news or future opportunities to provide feedback on the service here.