To help protect vulnerable young people who are under the influence of alcohol or drugs, Mission Australia operates Youth Beat mobile outreach services in the Northern Territory and Tasmania.
Run by trained youth workers, Youth Beat provides young people affected by drink or drugs with support and transport to overnight care, reducing risk to their safety and demands on local police.
This mobile outreach service has been so successful in Tasmania and the NT that Mission Australia is now trying to provide a similar after-hours assistance service for young people in Adelaide. The Youth Beat Adelaide service will transport young people to appropriate overnight care such as sobering-up centres or stay houses run by other community organisations.
Mission Australia currently operates the state’s only youth sobering-up service, located at Hindmarsh.
Mission Australia Acting State Director Phillip Leslie told today’s City Messenger that Youth Beat staff could help calm young people and diffuse potentially violent situations.
“Typically, the call is for more police and more CCTV to help stop anti-social behaviour but commonly, problems treated with common sense and respect can be solved,” he said.
Having a Youth Beat bus in Adelaide will also reduce pressure on local accident and emergency services, divert young people away from the justice system and help them to reconnect with their families and offer safe options.
The Adelaide service will most operate on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights with potential stops including Hindley Street, Rundle Mall and the central bus and train stations.
Youth Beat Adelaide is a little closer to hitting the road following a Mission Australia black-tie fundraiser held last weekend by Mr David and Mrs Janet Rice.
The fundraiser at a property in the Adelaide Hills included a performance by the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. The money raised from this event will go towards the purchase and fit-out of the Youth Beat vehicle, which Mission Australia hopes to have up and running by the middle of 2011.
These funds are in addition to those raised by our generous FebFast supporters. To help fund Mission Australia’s Youth Beat bus in Adelaide call Jill MacDonald, our SA Corporate Relationships Manager, on (08) 8218 2828.
You can also help a young person who is battling drug and alcohol addiction, homelessness or other personal challenges to change their life by donating to Mission Australia’s Youth Appeal.
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