The Bridge Youth Service has remodelled its services in a bid to keep local young people and parents supported during the coronavirus crisis.
Throughout the past two weeks, the service said it had been grappling with the immediacy and severity of the pandemic.
In response, it has transformed its assertive outreach model to a remote case-management model.
“We remain committed to providing high-quality service delivery, driven by a passionate team that works extremely hard to enable this to occur,” chief executive Melinda Lawley said.
“We all need to keep our distance, but we are only ever a phone call away.”
Program support will now be available via phone and the service will continue to accept referrals via its intake service and normal referral points.
The Bridge is also rostering on dedicated ‘response teams’ to take all referrals and queries, while registered participants in group programs are being given individual support.
Although face-to-face support has ceased, the service is exploring a range of alternatives to enhance phone support.
Online resources and support are available through the Bridge website for young people and their parents.
Although group programs such as Antenatal, Parenting Program and Step Up are on hold, young people are still being supported by group leaders or allocated support workers.
“Addressing the safety and wellbeing of our staff, as well as young people and their families, we will continue to provide support, as staff have the technology to achieve this from their homes,” Ms Lawley said.
“We have all the necessary processes and procedures required.”
Ms Lawley said local young people had already responded well to the changes and were comfortable with the new methods of communication with their support workers.
“We continue to work closely with Department of Education and Training to support young people in the education system,” she said.
“We are supporting 100 vulnerable young people and their families through the Navigator Program, which focuses on engaging them in their education, whether school comes back after the holidays or not.”
All program support from The Bridge Youth Service is now available via phone on 5831 2390 and 5799 1298 in Seymour.