The Office for Disability &

Mental Health

Bairbre Nic Aongusa, Director

Presentation to NSUE Conference,

24 January 2009
Background
 Vision for Change
 Reach Out: Action Plan for Suicide
Prevention
 Disability Act, 2005 – commenced
in June 2007 for under-5s
 Towards 2016 commitments
 NESF “Mental Health & Social
Inclusion” (October 2007)
Rationale
 Many of the factors which promote
recovery are outside the formal
health system – family,
community, education,
employment, housing, income
support
 Not acceptable that person with
disability has to navigate all the
services
 More coherent and integrated
Office for Disability &
Mental Health (ODMH)
 Support the Minister of State in
exercising his statutory functions
across four Departments –
 Health & Children
 Education & Science
 Enterprise, Trade & Employment
 Justice, Equality & Law Reform
Remit
 Modeled on Office of the Minister
for Children, but not identical
 Person with the disability at the
centre of policy and service
delivery
 Holistic view of clients’ and service
users’ needs
 Actively involved in their own care
Director
 Formerly Deputy Director at OMC
 Cross-cutting, cross-sectoral
experience
 Member of Senior Officials Group
on Social Inclusion
 Regular meetings with Minister and
Secretaries General of 4
Departments to review progress
Key priorities for ODMH
 Integrated health & education
support services for children with
special needs;
 Training & employment support
services for people with a
disability;
 Greater co-operation between
mental health & justice systems;
 Driving implementation of Vision
for Change.
Health & Education
services
 Disability Act commenced for
under-5s
 Right to Independent Assessment
of Need and Service Statement
 Education for Persons with Special
Needs Act, 2004 (EPSEN)
 Role of Child & Adolescent Mental
Health Services in all of the above
Health & Education cont’d
 Cross sectoral team – 2 Depts, plus
HSE and NCSE
 Roles and responsibilities of each
sector – developing protocols
 Shared understanding of priority
areas
 Monitoring of implementation to
date
 €20m funding in 2009
Training & Employment
 Work is key to recovery
 NESF report – supported
employment is best approach
 Linking vocational support to
CMHTs
 HSE Review of Adult Day Services
 Bridging programmes to
employment – with ET&E and FAS
Mental Health & Justice
 Impact of Criminal Law (Insanity)
Act, 2006
 Links between Garda Siochana and
local CMHTs
 Interaction with courts system
 Development of new Central
Mental Hospital
 Services for children - IYJS
Vision for Change
 More to it than additional
resources
 “What can be done with what we
have?”
 Changing ways of working etc
 Changing mindsets!
 HSE Implementation Plan
 Priority development of C&A teams
Not just mh services…
 20% of Vision for Change involves
recommendations for other
Depts/agencies
 ODMH will lead on these
 Mental Health Promotion
 Office for Suicide Prevention
 Focus in 2009 on young people
Our Vision
 “That every person with a
disability (including persons with
mental health issues) would be
supported to enable them, as far
as possible, to lead full and
independent lives, to participate in
work and in society and to
maximise their potential”
 Towards 2016, section 33, page 66