Presentations
Vocational supports within a person’s primary human service- the headspace experience
headspace Youth Mental Health Foundation supports over 100,000 young people each year through its centres and online services. Vocational services is one of the four core streams of support delivered by headspace centres. Over the past 9 years there has been significant growth and learnings with regards to the implementation of vocational supports within a primary youth mental health setting.
The recent Workforce Australia Employment Service Review explicitly named headspace in recommendation (5.194) highlighting headspace’s approach to inform future trials in embedding vocational supports within a person’s primary health service.
This presentation aims to take the audience on a journey through headspace’s introduction to the integration of the vocational stream to its present-day form of a thriving vocational stream in 50 headspace centres, an online integrated work and study service, a career mentoring service and a 150 Work and Study Specialists and a Peer Workforce.
The presentation will explore the challenges that were faced and the amazing opportunities and insights that arose during this time. We will take a candid look at the application of the internationally recognised Individual Placement and Support model in a youth early intervention service and also look at how the online vocational service stepped up and into its own during the COVID years.