program partners

Ermha’s partnerships, formal and informal, are vital to the support we can offer our clients. From housing to health, from migrant resources to employment, our partners expand the opportunities our clients can use to live more stable and hopeful lives in their communities.

St John of God Healthcare

Origins

In 2007 St John of God and Ermha initiated a three year pilot program partnership to support and grow the existing Ermha multicultural psycho-social rehabilitation program. This initiative has been designed to better meet the needs of people from a Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) background who are affected by mental illness.

There are over 170 different community languages spoken in the South East region, and new arrivals are settling here from all over the world. The south-east of Melbourne accepts more refugees than any other region in Victoria, and is the 2nd highest new settlement region in Australia.
While this new project is still quite young the response to date from a range of community groups, individuals and carers has been enthusiastic and encouraging and we expect to gain considerable knowledge about how best to engage and work with this diverse target group as the project proceeds.

Southern Health

PARCS

Ermha & Southern Health operate 2 PARC (Prevention And Recovery Care) services, one in Clayton and one in Springvale. Both facilities support people who are either leaving hospital but are not yet to live independently, or, clients whose symptoms are becoming more severe but do not require a hospital stay. Each PARC service provides short stay support (up to 28 days) and are staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Each PARCS caters for up to ten clients at any one time, combining Clinical and Psychosocial Rehabilitation support to deliver a specialist short term Recovery Focused approach that is tailored to the needs of each individual, and their carers and family where appropriate. The customised group program is a key aspect of this approach.

PARCS offers practical assistance, skills training, personal development, mental health education, as well as advocacy and linkage support.

Southern Health Clinical Mental Health Services and WAYSS Private Rental Access Program

MH Pathways

A three way partnership between Southern Health Clinical Mental Health Services, WAYSS Private Rental Access Program and Ermha, the Mental Health Pathways Program has been established to assist those people who are currently inpatients in an acute psychiatric unit and who have been identified as homeless or at risk of homelessness upon admission to hospital.

The Mental Health Pathways initiative aims to break the cycle of homelessness which impacts so significantly on people’s ability to deal with their mental illness.

Casey Hospital Acute
Psychiatric Inpatient Unit

Ermha’s Casey & Cardinia team delivers an exercise program in Southern Health’s Casey Hospital Acute Psychiatric Inpatient Unit twice a week. As well as providing consumers with the opportunity to participate in physical activity, this group introduces Ermha as a service people can access after discharge. Ermha teams are also collaborating with Southern Health’s Continuing Care Team to initiate a tailored Structured Group Program for particularly isolated individuals in the region.

Arts Access

Working with Arts Access, Ermha is co-facilitating the Pakenham Postcards Art Project as well as the recovery program’s Photography Group. Consumers from Ermha Programs, GARRS (Gippsland PDRS colleague agency) and the Casey Acute Inpatient Unit are provided with transport to facilitate attendance.

Dandenong Housing Project

Building on the partnering arrangements between Ermha and Southern Health the Dandenong Area Mental Health Service is working with us on the transfer to Ermha of property management responsibilities for several 3 & 4 bedroom properties in Dandenong. This project will see a much needed expansion of the housing/accommodation options available to clients exiting inpatient settings. The project also aims to build the capacity of both the clinical and PDRSS teams to work more closely together in direct service provision.

STEPS

The STEPS program is a Victorian Department of Health (Mental Health Branch) initiative designed to support the successful transition of selected residents from bed based extended care clinical facilities to the community through the provision of a dedicated, intensive and integrated support response. STEPS is a collaborative partnership between the Psychiatric Disability Rehabilitation and Support (PDRSS) and the Clinical Area Mental Health Service’s sectors.

For the purpose of this Project the Partners have agreed to act as a non incorporated consortium with Ermha as the lead agency and funds holder. The Alliance consists of the following members: Lantern, Ermha, Southern Health – AMHS, MACNI.
The partners work together in the design and delivery of individualised packages that combine intensive clinical and community treatment support. These packages of higher level support are delivered for an agreed time and are aimed at linking each individual with sufficient services to enable them to maintain their place in the community.

Peninsula Community Health Services (PCHS)

Ermha partners with Peninsula Community Health Services to manage the The Supporting Accommodation for Vulnerable Victorians Initiative (SAVVI).
This is a Victorian Government initiative to promote the viability and sustainability of the pension-level Supported Residential Services (SRS) sector. Ermha is the lead agency which manage the program for a cluster of 14 pension-level SRS’s located across the South East, the Mornington Peninsula and as far afield as the outskirts of Bairnsdale.

This initiative assists the SRS sector to meet some of their direct care costs in the form of Facility Cost Relief Funds, which are administered by the two agencies.

Together Ermha and PCHS provide support to the individual SRS proprietors, as well the provision of a range of supports at the cluster level. This initiative goes some considerable way towards improving the viability of SRS facilities and preventing the closures that have plagued the sector over recent years.

RDNS

The Royal District Nursing Service Homeless Persons Program (HPP) provides a specialist Community Health Nurse who works with and on behalf of people experiencing homelessness. The HPP nurse undertakes assertive outreach approaches to low cost accommodation options and into the streets and parks, seeking to engage with and support clients where they live.

The co-location of the HPP nurse at LINX continues to be mutually beneficial to both services allowing clients to have better access to a greater variety of services and support.