The COPMI Consultant works across adult and child and adolescent mental health services to support the needs of children and families where a parent experiences a mental illness or mental health disorder.

CONSULTANCY ROLE

  • Providing consultation to adult mental health workers and child youth and family staff around COPMI cases.
  • Advice to community organisations regarding COPMI issues.

CLINICAL ROLE

  • Family focused interventions with children and families impacted by parental mental illness.
  • Joint family assessments with adult mental health staff.
  • Brief counselling and psycho-education with children and teenagers – debriefing and education about mental illness (the child or the parent has to be the client of mental health services).
  • Targeted group work with children.
  • Targeted parenting support programs (Tuning in to Kids and Circle of Security) for parents living with mental illness or a mental disorder, and their partners.

COMMUNITY SERVICE LIAISON

  • Convene Northern Sydney Interagency Committee for young carers.
  • Partnerships with other agencies to run SMILES and respite programs.
  • Consultancy to personnel from other services regarding COPMI issues.

EDUCATION ROLE

  • Provide training for health professionals and other service personnel regarding COPMI issues and COPMI inclusive practice.
  • Provide training to wider local community service personnel regarding COPMI issues.
  • Provide training to wider target group at state and national forums.

SERVICE DEVELOPMENT ROLE

  • Service development role with adult mental health teams regarding COPMI inclusive practice, for example:

    – talking to children and teenagers about mental illness

    – the impact of mental illness on parenting

    – COPMI care planning for mental health staff

    – reviews of children and teenagers at risk

    – checklist for staff in making service referrals regarding COPMI.

SERVICE LIAISON ROLE

  • Between child and adult services regarding referral pathways.
  • Between adult mental health services and other community services such as schools/child protection.

STATE COPMI NETWORK ROLE

  • Attend state meetings.
  • Review state policies and documents regarding COPMI with state network members.

Download Free COPMI Resources

For use by families where a parent has a mental illness, their supporters, and services who work with them.