This annual report - Taranaki District Health Board

gain an appreciation of the wider family issues that may be relevant to a child’s mentalhealth difficulties, and they have often built up a rapport with the child and his or her familythrough previous consultations for other health concerns.The Government has recognised that the traditional fee-for-service model of primary careprovision is not suited to the provision of mental health services in primary care by multidisciplinaryteams. Through the Primary Mental Health Initiatives (PMHIs) DHBs arefunded to purchase primary mental health services including primary mental healthcoordinators, extended GP consultations, and packages of care such as brief interventionsand talking therapies [355]. The 2009 report of the evaluation of the first 26 PMHIs statedthat the 25 initiatives which supplied data for the evaluation did not sufficiently address theneeds of children and young people. Very few children under the age of 14 accessedservices funded through the PMHIs [369].There are beginning to be some child mental health services provided in primary care. TheTriple P Positive Parenting Programme, for families/whānau with children aged 3–7 yearswith mild to moderate behaviour concerns (older siblings up to 12 years can be included),is being offered free in one-to-one and small group sessions in the Bay of Plenty [370],Counties Manukau, Waitemata and MidCentral DHB regions [371].Child Mental Health Services in the Education SectorResources Teachers of Learning and BehaviourResources Teachers of Learning and Behaviour (RTLBs) work as itinerant teachersserving clusters of schools. They provide specialist support to Years 1 to 10 students andtheir teachers to improve the educational outcomes of students with moderate learningand/or behaviour difficulties [372]. They have a particular focus on Māori and Pasifikastudents and children and young people moving into Child, Youth and Family care [373].RTLBs often work in conjunction with other agencies, particularly Special EducationBehaviour Support teams, mental health agencies, other health agencies, and Child, Youthand Family [374].Positive Behaviour for LearningThe Ministry of Education’s 2011 Positive Behaviour for Learning Action Plan [375]includes a number of initiatives for parents, teachers and schools aimed at reducingproblem behaviour in children and young people and encouraging pro-social behaviour.The Incredible Years – Parent Programme is being delivered to around 15,000parents/caregivers over five years using reprioritized funding from the Ministry ofEducation ($45 million) and $15 million of new funding announced in the 2009 Budget. TheIncredible Years – Teacher programme is being delivered to 7,240 primary and earlychildhood education teachers. Positive Behaviour for Learning School-wide involvesMinistry of Education staff providing training to schools’ leadership teams to assist them toimplement School-wide, an approach that focuses on preventing problem behaviour,developing students’ social skills, reinforcing desired behaviour, consistency whenaddressing inappropriate behaviour, and using data-based assessment and problemsolving to deal with behaviour concerns.Special EducationStudents with more severe behaviour difficulties, including pre-schoolers, may be referredto Special Education which employs a range of professionals including psychologists,special education advisors and early intervention teachers to provide the SevereBehaviour Service [376]. A few students aged eight to twelve years who have especiallysevere and complex behaviour support needs, sometimes in association with intellectualdisability, may be referred to the Intensive Behaviour Service [377]. They may then attenda special residential school or receive “wraparound services” in their local school.Following the Minister of Education’s recent decision to close Salisbury School in Nelsonand McKenzie Residential School in Christchurch, from 2013 there will be two remainingspecial residential schools, Westbridge Residential School in Auckland and HalswellResidential School in Christchurch, which will together cater for 100 students [378].In-Depth Topic: Mental Health Issues in Children - 373