A SERVICE partnership aimed at treating those using the drug Ice will begin operating in Goulburn and surrounds next month.
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Member for Goulburn Pru Goward announced the $1.4 million contract, awarded to the Noffs Foundation and Directions ACT, on Friday afternoon.
Goulburn is the first of three regional areas in NSW to be given the four-year contract, to deliver new adult and youth specific treatment services.
While exact details of how it will be delivered are yet to be finalised, CEO of Directions ACT Fiona Trevelyan says the service will focus on, “being able to go to where the people are and where there is a need, rather than expecting people to come to us”.
This will encompass outlying communities such as Yass, Braidwood, Crookwell, Gunning and Collector.
“The impact Ice has on families and communities has been devastating, so to be able to be part of doing something to make a difference is very, very exciting for us. We are going to hit the ground running,” Ms Trevelyan said.
Directions ACT Director of Service Delivery Bronwyn Hendry said the model would range from intensive case management for those with severe drug use levels, to education and support for young people.
“It will be flexible to the person’s needs,” she said.
Both Directions ACT and the Ted Noffs Foundation have a long history with health and related social services.
Where Noffs specialises in socially disadvantaged and disconnected young people, particularly those with drug and alcohol issues, Directions ACT works on ‘harm minimisation principles’ to develop intervention programs.
Ms Goward said a service that captured both young people and adults was critically needed in Goulburn.
“We all know what happens - the debts that are rung up, the petty crime that is committed, the children that go into care and the violence that can often occur.
It’s a far too familiar story with Ice,” she said.
“In this region it is alarming to say in the last four years, presentations in our emergency departments in the southern health region have gone up threefold.
“That in part is driven by the incredible purity of ice. Five years ago it was at 10 per cent purity, now it is 80pc.”
Representing the Ted Noffs Foundation, chief operating officer Mark Ferry labelled the growing prevalence of Ice addiction a “community issue”.
This would be kept in mind when developing the service model, he said.
“It’s not the issue of the person using or the people around them - it affects us all. It is a community response that is needed,” he said.
“The model is fluid, so it’s not set in stone. We haven’t decided ‘this is what we are doing and this is how it will work’, we need to learn from you and we need to learn on the run and move and be agile.”