The Bligh Government has announced funding of almost $30 million for a range of prevention and early intervention projects that will trial, test and evaluate new ideas, new modes of service delivery and new approaches to some age-old problems.
Treasurer Andrew Fraser said the projects, to be funded from the $70 million Prevention and Early Intervention Fund, would drive innovative policy proposals aimed at preventing avoidable human and financial costs.
He said the projects, worth $28.3 million, would target persistent issues such as the treatment of mental illness, domestic violence, juvenile crime, and literacy and numeracy levels in low socio-economic areas.
“The Bligh Government is determined to seek out new ways to prevent the tragic cycles which are so unimaginably costly to individuals, families, communities and governments,” Mr Fraser said.
“For example, housing a juvenile offender in detention can cost more than $200,000 a year, a financial cost that is on top of the human cost for the youth, their family and their community.
“This range of projects has the potential to find ways of identifying problems earlier, before young people and their families are swept into a tragic spiral.”
“Not all will get the results we might hope. But through these pilots and these trials, we seek to not only to avoid the human costs of violence, neglect and lack of support but to avoid the inevitable cost to the public of dealing with the consequences.
“If we can prevent and avoid the costs – human and financial – we will do a great service to many individuals and families but also the community that otherwise bears the costs of social intervention services.”
The funding, which starts in 2009-10, will include:
·$8.7 million (over three years) to improve learning outcomes for children in low socio-economic communities through family support services, parenting skills training and a whole-school approach to positive behaviour
·$2.3 million (over three years) for mentoring and family support to reduce the number of Indigenous young people in south-west Queensland entering the child protection and juvenile justice systems
·$1.46 million (over three years) for support, such as finding accommodation and employment, to reintegrate offenders with cognitive or developmental disorders into the community and to reduce re-offending
·$6.5 million (over three years) for a safe, supportive community house, and associated outreach services, for 15–25-year-olds showing early signs of mental health problems. This initiative is being jointly delivered with the Queensland Alliance.
·$2.7 million (over two years) for a Rockhampton-based pilot to link government and non-government domestic violence assessment, case management and court services
·$1.8 million (over three years) for development of employment enterprises and support for young people who have recently entered the juvenile justice system and are at risk of re-offending and becoming homeless
·$1.07 million (over two years) to help children and young people with a disability and their families negotiate directly with service providers to meet their goals and needs
·$3 million (over three years) to reduce reoffending among 12–15-year-olds through support services such as cultural support, care plans, language and other diagnostic assessments and support with education. The initiative is being developed in conjunction with the Edmund Rice Education Australia-Bridge program.
·$819,000 (over two years) to train paramedics to support vulnerable clients by referring them to support services rather than transferring them to hospital.
Media contact (Treasurer’s office): 3224 6361 or 3224 5982
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