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Infant, Child and Adolescent System Transformation Program

Infant, Child and Adolescent System Transformation Program

The Final Report of the Ministerial Taskforce into Public Mental Health Services for Infants, Children and Adolescents aged 0 – 18 years in Western Australia (ICA Taskforce) was released in March 2022.

In the Final Report the ICA Taskforce proposed 8 key actions to transform, and continually improve, the public infant, child and adolescent mental health system. The WA Government are committed to these key actions and to the ongoing reform of infant, child and adolescent mental health services across the state.

Building on the ICA Taskforce Final Report, the documents linked in the right-hand column collectively describe the ideal future system. Securing the investment required to implement these remains a priority. These documents may evolve in line with new research and best practice evidence.

Collaboration with stakeholders, especially individuals with lived and living experience, will be crucial throughout the transformation process. This will ensure the future system meets the needs of, and achieves meaningful outcomes for, infants, children, adolescents, and their families and carers.

The Mental Health Commission is developing a live, evolving platform designed to showcase the program's key recommendations, actions, and progress. This platform will allow us to better communicate updates in a visually engaging and interactive way, making complex information more accessible to all our stakeholders. The platform will showcase new services and provide information and links to assist individuals to find the best services to suit their needs.

Key achievements and Latest news

Considerable progress has been made in transforming the mental health system for our children and young people. This would not have been possible without the contributions of young people, their families, front-line workers, and various agencies. Latest news along with key achievements against each key action are summarised below.

Latest news

In March 2024, the WA Government committed $46.6 million to continue transforming the infant, child and adolescent mental health system, including:

$22.4 million to expand and set up Acute Care and Response Teams across Perth and the Great Southern. These teams will offer care to children in their homes and communities or via phone or videocall. This means that children and families won't have to travel to a clinic or attend an Emergency Department to receive care in crisis. They'll also work closely with community Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services to offer additional care to those who need it. This funding will extend the existing team in Perth's east and create new teams in Perth's north and south, making sure all children and young in the metropolitan area have equal access to crisis care. This funding will also create the state's first regional team in the Great Southern.
$19.5 million to continue Crisis Connect. This service provides 24/7 phone or video call support to children experiencing a mental health crisis, as well as support and advice to families and professionals. With this funding, Crisis Connect will continue offering two weeks of follow-up care to children who contact the service.
$4.7 million to continue supporting regional health professionals to care for children presenting with mental health concerns by enabling virtual assistance from infant, child and adolescent mental health practitioners. This funding will enable regional children to receive follow-up care after presenting at a regional emergency service with mental health concerns.

This brings the total investment into the implementation of ICA Taskforce recommendations to $129.4 million.

Key achievements

Action 1. Improving the experience and ensuring the involvement of children and families

Young people, families, and significant others remained engaged in the design and implementation of services. Such engagement will also be critical in evaluating services going forward.

Action 2. Creating an integrated and person centred ICA mental health system

Perinatal services were funded to support new parents.
Developing the Head to Health Kids Hub to address the gap between primary care and mental health services. This service is expected to commence in late 2025.
Started the transition to a ‘hub and spoke’ model for community care through establishment of the state’s first Community Infant, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (ICAMHS) Hub in the South West.
Please click here for a link to the ICAMHS South West hub.

Action 3. Collaboratively developing new models of care for all parts of the specialist ICA mental health system

New models of care have been developed to guide service delivery into the future.
Implementation of these models has commenced through the establishment of the Community ICAMHS Hub in the South West and Acute Care and Response Team in Perth’s east, as well as the expansion of community services for young people with personality disorder related needs.

Action 4. Collaborating with other government and community services to ensure that they can appropriately support children and families

Provided ongoing funding for mental health and wellbeing programs to support school students now and into the future.
The Child and Adolescent Forensic Service commenced. This service supports clinicians working with young people and children exiting youth detention.
Additional mental health practitioners have been recruited to support young people detained in Banksia Hill Detention Centre
Funding has been secured to establish forensic mental health beds for young people.

Action 5. Investing in the capability and wellbeing of the ICA mental health workforce

Staff received education and training including Dialectical Behavioural Therapy for Adolescents, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, vivacious trauma, infant mental health, and child development.
Identified and commenced initiatives to build, sustain and support the mental health workforce.
The Aboriginal Mental Health Worker model was developed to clarify roles, capabilities, and career pathways for this workforce. Further work is underway to build on this foundational model.
Resources were developed to ensure safe and effective integration of Lived Experience (Peer) Workers across the sector.

Action 6. Growing and sustaining the capacity of the ICA mental health workforce to better meet needs

Expanded the mental health workforce. This included growing the Lived Experience (Peer), Aboriginal Mental Health Worker, medical, nursing, allied health, administration, and management workforces.
Digital Medical Records were rolled out across Perth Children’s Hospital, as part of a statewide transition from paper based records to an Electronic Medical Record system.

Action 7. Deploying ICA mental health services with contemporary infrastructure, technology and research

Expanded Crisis Connect.
Provided regional health professionals with virtual support to assist them in responding to young people presenting with mental health concerns.
Provided follow-up care for regional children and families following a mental health related emergency service presentation.

Action 8. Driving the sustained performance of the ICA mental health system through governance and leadership

Updated the approach to assessment of service provider performance by prioritising person-focused outcomes. Here, the focus has shifted from inputs and outputs to consumer experiences and outcomes.
Embedded governance structures to oversee reform of the ICA system.