Our recommendations

Our recommendations are designed to support the creation of a coherent system of mental health services so that all young people can access appropriate and consistent mental health care when and where they need it. This will require strong government leadership and co-ordinated approaches from agencies.

We recommend that:

1. the Ministry of Health prioritise work to understand the prevalence of mental health conditions in the population;
2. Te Whatu Ora work with the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education, Oranga Tamariki, and other agencies as relevant to evaluate the effectiveness of, and develop consistent guidelines for, the delivery of youth integrated primary health services;
3. the Ministry of Education ensure that sufficient data is collected to understand the effectiveness of the school guidance counselling model for all students;
4. Te Whatu Ora and the Ministry of Education work with other agencies as relevant to better align the objectives and operations of their school-based health and well-being services;
5. Te Whatu Ora, the Ministry of Education, Oranga Tamariki, and the Department of Corrections consider whether appropriate mechanisms for youth voice and participation are built into the design, delivery, and governance of new and existing mental health and well-being services for young people;
6. Te Whatu Ora, the Ministry of Education, Oranga Tamariki, and the Department of Corrections ensure that outcomes data is collected for all mental health and well-being services accessed by young people;
7. Te Whatu Ora work with the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education, Oranga Tamariki, the Ministry for Social Development, and the Department of Corrections to ensure that integrated care pathways are in place so that at-risk groups of young people experiencing mental health concerns can access consistent and continuous care as they enter, move between, and leave the care of services;
8. the Ministry of Health work with Te Whatu Ora, the Ministry of Education, Oranga Tamariki, the Department of Corrections, and other agencies as relevant to strengthen its mental health and addiction system leadership role, and to prioritise the development of a cross-agency implementation plan for Kia Manawanui with clear agency roles and responsibilities; and
9. Te Whatu Ora and the Ministry of Health work with the Ministry of Education, Oranga Tamariki, the Department of Corrections, and other agencies as relevant to prioritise the development of a national mental health and addiction workforce plan.