Wesley Mission Melbourne: Services: Youth

Wesley Youth Services Southern region (WYSS) provides accommodation and support programs for young people (aged between 12 and 18) in the southern metropolitan region who are in crisis and homeless, or at risk of becoming homeless.

WYSS also provides crisis intervention services to young people and, where appropriate, their families.

WYSS programs enable young people to stay within one agency, making it easier for them to maintain relationships to maximising their potential to resolve issues and achieve emotional and/or physical independence.

WYSS offers long term support for young people between the age of 12 and 18 regardless of accommodation circumstances, primarily who are subject to involvement with Department of Human Services (DHS) Child Protection.

Experienced professional social and youth workers provide individual support and supervision to each young person – and their families where appropriate – to develop an effective case plan with realistic goals. Their primary objective is to help young people learn how they can assist themselves to improve their own lives.

Short, medium and long-term professional support:

Residential Units

WYSS has a long history of supporting adolescents withcomplex and challenging behaviours who are subject to protective intervention. Residential units with full time staffed supervision provide support and role modeling opportunities for young people who may have histories of poor relationships with adults.

WYSS operates two residential units, one Early Adolescent Unit and one Reception Unit.

Lead Tenant Accommodation

This is a program which helps young people, who have been involved with DHS Child Protection, yet are about to leave care. It targets those who are at risk of homelessness to develop independent living skills so that they can move to safe independent accommodation.. Young people are individually supported by a social worker or youth worker within the Case Management Team whilst residing in one of our Lead Tenant properties.

The Lead Tenant program provides a mentoring program to adolescents between the age of 15 to 18, who are currently attending full time school or a course, to enable adolescents to enhance independent living skills and to link the young person in with continuum of services.

A Lead Tenant house provides a non-institutional form of accommodation based on shared housing with peer leadership, rather than a supervisory role.

This is a supported accommodation program enabling young people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless to remain in their community and retain their ties with school, job, friends and family. Individuals and families from the local community generously respond to the needs of these young people by caring for them in their homes to provide a safe and secure environment. Predominately young people in this program have involvement with DHS Child Protection, however WYSS also has a limited number of places for non statutory clients.

Intensive Home Based Care

This is a supported accommodation program for young people with high needs and challenging behaviours. The support required for these young people is generally of a higher level compared to Adolescent Community Placement. Individuals and families from the local community, preferably with previous experience in working with the needs of young people, generously support young people by caring for them in their homes in order to provide a safe and secure environment for them. All young people in this program are subject to statutory intervention.

Complex Home Based Care

This is an intensively supported accommodation program for young people who have challenging and high risk taking behaviours. These young people may be living with mental illness and or some form of substance abuse. Given the complexity of the young people in this program the expectations of the caregivers is to provide a high level of support and supervision within the caregivers home. Individuals and families who have previously had experience in providing care for challenging young people, may be required to be available 24/7. Like Intensive Home Based Care all young people in this program have statutory involvement.

WYSS urgently needs foster / home based carers for young people aged between 12 and 18 years.

For this challenging role, we are seeking positive role models who set boundaries and work with a young person to help them achieve their goals. Through no fault of their own, many young people are victims of abuse, neglect or family rejection. You can make a real difference by providing a safe, stable and supportive home. There is a 24 hour 7 day support available to all caregivers within this program and a tax free reimbursement. If you can help, please contact us at WYSS or click here to register your interest.

This is a family preservation program, aimed at maintaining families, which accepts referrals from families, schools and other community organisations. Staying Together involves families in a solutions-focused counselling model to support them through difficult times and prevent family breakdown. This early intervention program responds quickly to family crisis situations and provides non-threatening family support in the family's home.

It is a family counselling program that is voluntary and requires one member of the family to be aged between 12 and 17 years. It is a service aimed at families who are prepared to do something about their problems.

Young people, parents and professionals are encouraged to refer to the “Staying Together” Program.