The Community Living Service (CLS) – a specialist service within Framework - is responsible for engaging and supporting clients with a mental illness, who have high and complex needs. The aim is to engage clients into their chosen community which will enable them to achieve to their fullest potential.

Framework’s CLS service - based in premises at Papakura – has a geographic spread complementing the area of services provided by the Awhinatia Mental Health Centre, with which it is partnered. Reporting from, and to, the clinical team takes place on a regular basis.

Although a need for clinical awareness is important; it is the role of the Awhinatia clinical team to design a service user’s clinical care. The community living specialist is however responsible to observe any changes in their service user’s well-being and is responsible to report these to the clinical team.

The CLS team actively engages with the local community and focus on education and building supportive relationships with various local facilities such as local businesses, churches and training centre’s.

Referral to this service is via the clinical team at Awhinatia. The service focuses on such areas as chosen housing options, ability for service users to access and utilize transport, daily living skills; and a huge focus on developing community supports for clients to use during times of mental unwellness and stress. CLS achieves this through a holistic approach and will cover such supports as family, friends, clinical teams, churches and support groups.

The intensity of the visit ratio differs from the community living specialist workers in that service users receive a minimum of three visits a week; these visit times are flexible to meet the service users’ needs.

Community living specialists have a good knowledge in communication skills, assessments, planning and implementation and a good knowledge of mental health disorders.

As an organisation, Framework has fully embraced the Strengths Model and therefore all work done with service users is based on individual strengths and celebrating achievements.

Contact:

Operational Leader or Practice Leader

Community Living Service
21a East Street, Papakura
Tel;09 299 2671
Fax; 09 299 2673
PO Box 72 486, Papakura