A
report by the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission
released last week highlighted that not enough is being done
to ensure the mental health and wellbeing of our young
people. The report comes off the back of a second
report released by the Commission which drew attention
to the fact that one in four young people (12-17) yrs old,
and 92% of 18 yr olds, requiring inpatient mental health
care, are currently being admitted into adult services,
simply because we do not have enough youth specific services
across Aotearoa to meet our young people’s
needs.
VOYCE – Whakarongo Mai contributed to the report
and valued the commitment the Commission demonstrated in
centring the voices of young people.
Mental distress
and suicidal ideation are challenges that young people are
facing across Aotearoa and urgent action is required to
ensure young people receive the care and support they need.
New Zealand currently records
the highest rates of youth suicide
(between 15-19 yrs) within 41 OECD/EU
countries. In a
survey completed by Youth19, 23% of
young people surveyed had significant depressive symptoms,
6% had attempted suicide, and 19% surveyed expressed
concerns that they struggled to get help when they needed
it.
VOYCE – Whakarongo Mai believes there
needs to be stronger recognition of the mental toll state
care has on young people. In
a report exploring the mental health of young people who
had been involved with Oranga Tamariki, it was found that
young people with an experience of state care were more than
twice as likely to have had serious thoughts of suicide in
the last year and more than four times as likely to have
attempted suicide in the last year.
It is
imperative the Government acknowledges the trauma associated
with being uplifted from whānau and acts urgently
to provide all young people in care, and with a
care-experience, free access to mental health, counselling,
and wellbeing support of their choice.
“Free access
to mental health support should be a given, especially for
any young person with a care-experience.” Says Ihorangi
Reweti Peters, a young person with lived experience of the
care system and also Regional Youth Council Chair for Te Wai
Pounamu. “When an uplift takes place, that act alone is
traumatizing! For people reading this report, what I’d
like them to know is that young people (both those with a
care-experience, and those without) are really struggling
with their mental wellbeing. Something needs to be done
about it.”
VOYCE – Whakarongo Mai believes it is
vital that the Government takes seriously the trauma
that results from tearing a child from their whānau and
bringing them into state care and is backing Ihorangi’s
call for the Government to act
urgently to ensure young people within the care system, and
those with a care experience, have access to the support and
services they need to heal.
“It’s shocking that so
many young people in care are struggling on a daily basis
with suicidal ideation and mental illness, and yet the state
is not intervening and providing the much-needed support we
need,” says Ihorangi, before going on to highlight that
mental health services alone are not enough to stem the tide
of mental distress. Young
people with a care experience are more likely to face
housing deprivation, poverty and feel disconnected from
their culture and community than their peers. Young
people must have their basic human rights recognized, he
says. They must have access to stable and supported housing,
and enough money to ensure food can be kept on the table,
because these all have an impact on mental health and
overall wellbeing.
Lack of stability and access to
basic needs are issues impacting the mental health of many
young people. But for young people with a care experience,
these issues are even more pronounced, says Ihorangi. “For
those of us who have been in care, many of us haven’t had
much stability in our lives. When you come into the care of
the state, we expect that we should be guaranteed that the
state will care for us and ensure that we are provided with
stability. And yet that is often not the case. Upon
transitioning out of care there is also no guarantee that we
will have access to adequate housing or have the resources
we need to ensure we have a roof over our heads and food in
our stomach.”
VOYCE – Whakarongo Mai calls on the
Government to urgently respond to the mental health crisis
facing young people by acting to ensure that every young
person in care and with a care experience has access to free
mental health care, counselling, and wellbeing
support.
The release of this report is another
important acknowledgement of the mental health crisis facing
our young people. As a nation we need to do more. We must
act swiftly to ensure our young people have the care and
support they desperately
need.
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