Resilient Kids – info for service providers

Young people who are struggling with mild to moderate mental health issues, or who would like to reconnect with their community and who are: aged between 8 to 18 years old living or working in the Northern Rivers Region, and who were impacted by the 2022 floods.

Resilient Kids is for children and young people, as well as their families and carers, who require additional support in their recovery from the 2022 floods and have concerns around (but not limited to):

• specific anxiety, depression and/or trauma related stress around the 2022 flooding events, climate change, weather and the natural environment
• grief and loss: home, possessions and friends
• separation anxiety related to flooding events, including school avoidance.

Upon referral, our team will assess the best level of care for the young person through a person-centred intake and assessment process. If we determine that our program is not the right fit for the young person, we will assist in finding the right service for them.

We offer young people the following psychological support services:

• one on one support for young people with mild mental health issues – up to six sessions with one of our family support workers
• counselling for young people with mild to moderate mental health issues. Our counsellors can offer regular and ongoing sessions for up to nine months
• therapeutic groups for young people managing mild to moderate mental health problems. These groups are generally for young people who already have received one on one support from our team
• Social and Emotional Wellbeing groups focusing on disaster recovery and preparedness, interpersonal skills, healthy coping strategies, life skills and self-care strategies. These groups are co-designed with the young people who access our services
• care coordination for young people with severe mental health problems. We provide support in connecting these young people with the right mental health services.

Resilient Kids also provides support to the parents and guardians of our participants through family inclusive sessions and parenting groups. There will also be small activities delivered at the Wellbeing Hubs and smaller communities which will allow for young people and their families to have fun and connect with their communities.

Young people can access our services at one of our six Wellbeing Hubs in  Northern NSW. Head over to the Resilient Kids page for listings and addresses of the six Wellbeing Hubs. We also  do outreach to smaller communities impacted by the 2022 floods, including Broadwater, Brunswick Heads, Coraki, Evan Heads, Nimbin, Wardell and Woodburn.

The most efficient way to refer a young person to Resilient Kids is to complete the online referral form.

If you wish to do a warm transfer to Resilient Kids, then you can contact the Resilient Kids Team leader on 0497 176 382 to arrange a care coordination meeting. We recommend you complete the referral form prior to the meeting.

If you prefer to complete a paper version of the referral form, then please download and print the Resilient Kids referral form.

You can then email this form to [email protected]

The Resilient Kids program is being delivered under three streams:

• Stream 1 Education and Skill Building Stream
• Stream 2 Community Resilience Building Stream
• Stream 3 First Nations Initiatives

Social Futures holds the contract for Stream 1 and 2, in consortia with the Family Centre and Human Nature Therapy. The below table provides an overview of the two streams managed by Social Futures.