STEPS ihbos

STEPS IHBOS has been developed to create and implement individual, flexible packages of support for clients with a severe and enduring mental illness together with high and complex needs.
Many STEPS IHBOS clients have a history of, or are currently experiencing

  • Poverty
  • Homelessness
  • Substance misuse
  • Poor physical health
  • Challenging behaviours
  • Abuse
  • Involvement with the justice system
  • Unsatisfactory service engagement and treatment

Any combination of these factors together with a severe and enduring mental illness can create multiple barriers to recovery. As a result of containment and treatment in acute or secure psychiatric wards, clients frequently experience repeated breakdowns in housing arrangements and this contributes to the turmoil that characterises clients’ lives.

IHBOS staff work to support clients in a variety of ways:

  • Everyday support to develop and improve practical skills such as assisting with grocery shopping and meal planning
  • Support to access specialist intervention
  • Assistance to maintain and retain accommodation and independence in the community
  • Support to increase clients’ understanding of their illness and treatment options

STEPS IHBOS packages are also designed to support bed-flow management between Secure Units (SECU), Community Care Units (CCU), and the community, enabling clients to move more seamlessly through the mental health service system.

Clients are referred to STEPS IHBOS by Dandenong Area Mental Health Service clinicians or by staff of the organisations that make up the Southern Alliance Committee (Ermha, Impact, Mind, Lantern, Southern Health).

Go to STEPS Care Coordination
Download the STEPS IHBOS brochure as a pdf