LGBTIQA+ youth in Melbourne’s western suburbs will soon have access to a new Queer Psychosocial Outreach Program (QPOP).
Youth Projects received a $239,968 grant from the state government to expand support for LGBTIQA+ youth living in Melbourne’s western suburbs.
Youth Projects is an independent, registered charity providing front line support to young people and individuals experiencing disadvantage, unemployment, homelessness, alcohol and other drug issues.
The new QPOP initiative is aimed at providing essential support to LGBTIQA+ youth aged 12-24, specifically those with varying abilities such as autism, ADHD and psychosocial challenges.
The charity has a number of sites throughout Melbourne including in Footscray, Hoppers Crossing, Melton, Point Cook, St Albans, Sunshine, Taylors Lakes and Werribee.
The QPOP program, scheduled to commence in March 2024, aims to initially support 80 young people with plans to evaluate, scale and increase this support in coming years.
Youth Outreach coordinator Maddy Bieleny said the program will provide tailored and individualised support to each young person.
“Across all the regions that we work in, we see young people everyday who are looking for support, particularly with their mental health. At the moment about 60 per cent of the young people who access our youth outreach program identify as LGBTQIA+ and all of them have identified mental health concerns,” she said.
“… We know that LGBTQIA+ youth have a variety of different challenges and barriers that they face, but regardless of how the young people present, we work collaboratively with them. They could be facing barriers like employment or education, mental health, family violence etcetera.
“Our holistic outreach model means that we can meet young people where they’re at. We not only work alongside young people to support them to identify the goals they want to achieve, but we meet them in the community wherever they’re comfortable, whether that be the home, school, park or at a cafe, to provide that wrap-around holistic support to focus on the whole person within their whole context.”
In 2023, Youth Projects canvassed 20 key mental health service providers across Melbourne and reported an average wait time of eight weeks – with some reporting up to a 12 week wait – to access youth-specialist mental health and early intervention services.
Youth Projects chief executive Ben Vasiliou said in the face of the ongoing youth mental health crisis and prolonged waitlists for support services, Youth Projects is scaling up accessible and impactful programs at a grassroots level.
“This grant will allow us to expand our reach, find young people who are not connected with the service system, intervene early, and address the specific needs of LGBTIQA+ youth in Melbourne’s west, creating a supportive and validating environment for young LGBTIQA+ folk,” Mr Vasoliou said.
“What we know is there is not sufficient support in community, or even for those in acute distress, to learn how to manage their mental health. We’re going to do just that, whilst also building self-esteem, confidence, independence and provider pathways to greater social and economic inclusion.”
The QPOP program can be assessed in a number of ways, youth can drop-in to the Youth Projects Werribee Youth Hub and speak with the staff there. Alternatively the Youth Outreach team can be contacted directly on (03) 9304 9100 or a refferal form can be submitted through www.youthprojects.org.au/forms/find-support.
